Tokyo Tempest
by princess lullaby
Summary: Following an enigmatic force during the war, Sasuke and Sakura find themselves thrown into an alternate universe within modern Tokyo. With high school uniforms instead of ninjutsu, what measures will they take to survive in the city, and can certain bonds be resurrected before returning home?
1. Part I: The Beginning

Set during the Fourth Great Ninja War in an AU.

 **A/N:** Hello readers, here is a brand new shiny story from me! This plot has been in my to-do list for awhile now but I haven't had the time to plan everything out in detail before starting on the first chapter. However, I've now come up with a brief skeleton and thus I present to you the beginning of a new adventure! Like the description suggests, yes, it is an AU fic. However, Sasuke and Sakura are still Ninjas. Personally, I don't like reading AU fics for some reason since I prefer them to still have ties towards their ninja identities. So then I thought.. what if they were still ninjas of Konoha, but were in a different world? ; o; Decided it'd be fun to try. Let me know what you think!

As you might know, there's a lot of technological fallacies in the Shinobi world.. so pardon me if anything seems off, I'm just going with my own part of the story ; u; Also contains an OC in the AU.

 **Disclaimer:** This story is written purely based on my interpretations of the SasuSaku pairing and information within the anime, movies, and novels. Please don't read if you don't like what's happening. Rated T for language and slight violence/gore, but nothing more than fluff.

In a timeline reference to my other fics, this story can be thought of as taking place before " **Home** ".

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part I: The Beginning

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 _No one ever comes out of a storm the same as they walked in._

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"I'm going to become Hokage."

His resolve played inside of her head like a broken record. The pink-haired girl sat on the decayed earth in the aftermath of the Fourth Great Ninja War, dazed at the sight of the renegade Uchiha standing before them wearing a merciless, but mixed expression. The three of them had been in utter shock ever since he had made the most unanticipated, most shocking announcement to their ears.

It was all too wrong, too unfamiliar.

They had just fought a damn war together. They defeated Madara, the person who planned to trap the entire world in an inevitable illusion with the Infinite Tsukuyomi. _They saved the Shinobi world from being on the brink of destruction._ After years of of their bonds being severed, this was the first thing the three of them had collectively achieved together as a _team_.

So how did it suddenly become like this?

"Naruto, you're now the Jinchūriki of all the tailed beasts. Which means I eventually plan to get rid of the chakra inside of you too." The raven-haired man stood opposing to his old team members on the remains of the battlefield, his Rinnegan ominously juxtaposing his black orb.

" .. In other words, you're going to die. Out of necessity."

Sakura and Naruto eyed their teammate in both caution and pain, while Sasuke continued in assertion.

"If what the Sage said was true, there's no need to use the tailed beasts power inside of you to release the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I can take advantage of all the beasts captured.. Therefore I'll let them live until then."

"You know I won't let you do that, right?" The blonde spoke up in a hushed, but all-serious tone that hinted at great disappointment.

A tense air immediately broke out in the atmosphere, allowing a moment of silence as either of them refused to break their firm gaze.

"Then I guess I'll just have to deal with you first. Let's move this elsewhere," The Uchiha darted towards the silence dismissively, shifting away from his ex-teammates. The three of them eyed his back suspiciously, anticipating his next movement until he turned his head to the side and locked gazes with the blonde through the corner of his eye.

".. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at the suggestion of the Uchiha's words, but wasn't quick enough to provide an answer as Sasuke had already began his stride. At this, Sakura bit down on her lip hard, feeling an unrelenting form of anxiety rush over her as she saw how strong, how firm he stood against his resolve.

He's walking away from them again. She knew what the two of her bestest friends in the world were set out to do once they leave this vicinity. Once more, the space between them seemed to be intangible and endless.

She could nearly feel her heart drop down to the pit of her stomach, a feeling she was already rather well acquainted with over the past few years.

"Wait, Sasuke!" The silver-haired man exclaimed, leaning forward as if he could stop his old student with the mere reach of his hand. He quickly retracted upon an excruciating pain radiating throughout his body. _The lingering effects of the Sharingan.._

"Sensei!" Sakura latched onto her old teacher's back reassuringly as he continued to wince. At this point, she could feel hot tears beginning to well up in her eyes. But that didn't matter. There was only one thing that mattered in this moment.

So, she swallowed the lump in her throat and jolted her head in the direction of the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun!" Her voice rang with all her strength into the distance, the raven-haired man taking his time before slowly coming to a descending stop in his path.

She cursed her own assertiveness for a mere second before deciding that out of all chances, if her voice were to be heard, the three of them might have a chance at another future. With that in mind, there really wasn't anything else that her pride couldn't take another beating for.

"I know deep inside that there really isn't anything I can do." She started with a voice as composed as she could muster, "Even though I love you, even though I care about you so much, Sasuke, and yet.."

She could feel all eyes on her as she delivered her most daring, most embarrassing outburst yet.

".. Yet I can't even exchange blows with you or get close to you at all. I can only beg, whine, and cry like this again. I know it's pitiful."

He contemplated on ignoring what seemed like 100th confession he'd heard from the girl he knew would go to great lengths of incomprehensible stupidity for him. But instead, he let an unwanted memory rise to the surface. One that despite all popular belief, he desperately tried to smother away for the past few years.

 _"I'm begging you, Sasuke-kun. Please don't leave!"_

 _He knew she was crying. If he turned around right this instant, he'd see her tear-stained face that was probably worried and scared at the same time._

 _"I'll even help you get your revenge, I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen, I swear!" Sakura's voice began to crack, "So stay here, please. And if you can't.."_

 _.. Despite so, he wasn't going to let anything get in between him and his decision. He couldn't._

 _"-then take me with you."_

 _She and Naruto were the two people he'd come to cherish the most._ _He was grateful for having people like that. He really was. For the first time in his life since the massacre, he'd come to know the true feeling of friendship and bonds. And for Sakura.. she was the one who showered him with unconditional love, something he hadn't let himself feel for a long time._

 _And it was going to stay that way. Though he'd remember it forever._

 _"You haven't changed at all." He said, turning himself around for a brief second and flashing her an ominous smirk._

 _"You're still as annoying as ever."_

 _"Don't leave me! If you go, I'll scream and-"_

 _As soon as he heard the pink-haired girl began to run for him, he disappeared in an instant and reappeared again, this time behind his teammate._

 _"Sakura." The avenger called out cooly,_

 _"Thanks for everything."_

"-But, Sasuke-kun!"

The old memory dissipated with the sound of the pink-haired girl's strong voice piercing through the distance.

"If there's even a little corner of your heart that still thinks about me, that still thinks about team 7 and our comrades the way it used to, then please don't leave again." She tried her hardest not to let herself break near the end, to be as firm and assertive as she could, but it got more and more difficult as she felt a love so overwhelming it managed to take over her composure almost immediately. "If we stick together, I know it's possible that our bonds can be like old times again."

If there was one thing he knew for sure aside from the strength of his resolve, it was that Sakura would hold onto her feelings strongly, selfishly no matter who or what circumstances tried to take it away. He had something like that before, once upon a time in his own family.

This was something he _knew_ , but would never _understand_.

Like before, she was the one person that somehow still had the utterly annoying ability to get under his thick skin. Who could easily claim to love him after endless mistrust and betrayal. Again, this was yet another thing he would never come to understand. He didn't need to.

The pink-haired girl watched, tear-stained with a rapid heartbeat as the Uchiha shifted his gaze around once more and displayed a somber-like smile.

"You're such an annoyance."

Sakura widened her viridian orbs in surprise, but not fast enough to speak with her half-opened mouth as a pang of chakra immediately spiked within the Uchiha, sending him darting towards the pink-haired girl in a flash.

However, the next moment felt like it was in a matter of milliseconds.

Just as he was about to reach her with a blow in the chest, a giant wavelength tore in the air between the two of them, strong and agile enough to push the raven-haired man into the air and away from his target. He landed smoothly on his feet, dragging the dirt in front of him with his fingers in effort to skid to a stop.

"H-Hey.." Naruto stuttered, eyes darting in one direction and then the next in panic. "What's happening here!?"

 _The ground is shaking._ Sakura observed, putting aside the fact that Sasuke had just tried to kill her and placed a hand on the unstable earth as the shattering began to get stronger and stronger. An iridescent light began to envelop the sky above, swirling and subsequently changing into a subtle golden glow that only began to turn brighter and brighter. It was as if the heavens were changing form, a high pressure in the air that could easily be felt against the skins of the four below.

The pink-haired girl let out a gasp and darted her attention below her feet, widening her eyes in surprise as her legs struggled to move out of their firm position against the dirt.

"What is going o-"

Suddenly, in one swift motion, the earth below pulled her into its embrace, splitting the rock and dirt apart as she attempted to grab onto the air above her in mercy, but grunted when she only began to dive deeper into the nothingness below.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Naruto's voice was the last thing she heard, bellowing down into the endless ravine as she slowly disappeared out of sight.

* * *

Upon regaining consciousness, her body felt sore in all areas of movement, especially when she attempted to sit up from the reclined position she was in on the stone-hard ground beneath her.

Wait. What stone ground? The last thing she could remember was that there was a sudden change in the atmosphere at the battleground, right after she had delivered the most cringeworthy confession she had ever managed to spit out and once again got hopelessly rejected from.

"Hey! The hell is up with you, woman!?"

"Maybe she's homeless?"

 _"Don't look at her, sweetie."_

Before Sakura could even open her eyes, she heard a hustle of voices and murmurs looming over her, disappearing as fast as they came every few seconds. Her temples were throbbing in an uneven pace, and it took her awhile before she actually lifted her head up from its downwards position.

It wasn't until she had actually opened her eyes, slowly, that she realized she had been laying among a sea of people walking out and about in a busy intersection.

She blinked once, twice, thrice wide-eyed after scanning the new and unfamiliar environment around her. She noticed out of the corner of her gaze people, children and adults alike, still staring at her as they made their way around to avoid her. But that wasn't what was keeping her attention at the moment. It was as if thousands of stimuli were trying to break into her senses all at once. Colors flashed in every direction she looked, most of which were planted on high buildings made of either cement or glass. When she attempted to read some of the signs and what seemed like moving advertisements plastered on the walls, she recognized that the Japanese was a little different from what she knew.

Never in her life had she seen anything like this before. Just a few seconds ago, she was in the middle of the battlefield with Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke. So where exactly was this strange pl-

"Ah!" In a quick movement, the pink-haired girl rolled off to her side and took advantage of the momentum to stand herself up with her knees and then onto her feet. She stumbled for a few seconds before completely regaining her balance, eyeing the strange robot-like machinery that sped past her but nearly squashed her to death.

"Get out of the way, you freak!" An elderly man inhabiting the unknown machine bellowed out to her as it subsequently disappeared out of her sight among a bunch of similar machinery.

"What the hell?" Sakura murmured to herself, silently cursing the man's rudeness. She could care less that she was receiving more suspicious stares as she panted for her breath with furrowed eyebrows in deep seriousness. Her position was rather predatory with her legs spread apart in a defensive stance amidst the groups of confused humans that ridiculed her in silence.

No matter which direction she looked, all she could see were heads, hundreds of them roaming past her, some of in which tried to aggressively push her out of their way. Most were deep in conversation while others were fixated on smaller gadget-like items in their hands. The humans wore strange clothing, mainly comprised of the brighter colors on the spectrum, though some seemed like they were wearing practically nothing at all.

When she tried to peer up ahead, the roads seemed endless. On the other side of the humans, a giant row of the same machinery that almost killed her were lined up, two of in which the humans inside of it were screaming and cursing at eachother while the ones from behind bellowed out a loud honking noise.

"This must be a Genjutsu." Sakura pondered to herself, several possibilities running through her mind as to what on earth she could be doing here.

"Comin through!"

She let out a little gasp in surprise as a person on a loud two-wheeled machinery zoomed past her face, causing her body to jolt back in surprise. As she stumbled behind her toes, another grunt escaped her mouth when she felt her back pound against something firm.

"Sorry! That was my b-" She twisted her gaze around her shoulder, but froze mid-sentence when her eyes met with a familiar pair that she had known for almost her entire life.

The obsidian orbs stared back at her, eyebrows furrowed in seriousness and caution as the two of them stood back-to-back gazing at eachother in further anticipation.

"Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura yelped in surprise, feeling like the hundreds of people walking around her were now simply background images compared to the ex-comrade in front of her.

The Uchiha failed to respond, but instead gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at this new revelation.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, what're you doing here?" The pink-haired girl attempted her words again, now shifting her entire body around to face the Uchiha who has yet to move from his position.

He didn't respond, again, but instead his eyes grew darker as he spat out his next words.

"I thought I told you that you were _annoying._ "

Sakura widened her eyes, immediately raising an arm up in another defensive stance as the Uchiha swung his body around and darted his palm forward in the space between them, setting another deathly aim at her chest.

"Hehe, Mama Mama! This strange onii-chan knows how to do the Hadouken too!"

Sasuke and Sakura stared at eachother wide-eyed in horrific surprise, frozen in their current stances for the next few seconds as a young mother whispered angrily at her child to stop staring and keep walking.

 _He just tried to attack me again!_ Sakura hissed to her inner self, _But, the technique didn't even work! What the hell is going on?_

"Bro,"

The raven-haired man blinked once out of his shocked trance to look at a group of teenagers standing beside him. The one who spoke was a boy around his age, but a bit taller in height and with spiked orange hair.

"You guys attending the AnimeJapan convention?" The boy shuffled himself forward, hooking an arm casually around the shoulders of the Uchiha and giving him a look of admiration up and down. "Just wanted to say your costumes are awesome! How'd you get the whole beat-up-from-the-war kinda look?"

In a split second, a long demeaning glare shot from the Uchiha's eyes towards the stranger, sending his arm flying right off as he took a step back and gulped nervously. "Okay, then." Within seconds, the boy had disappeared into the crowd along with the rest of the group.

"Sasuke-kun," The pink-haired girl whispered assertively for the third time, lowly so that nobody around them would accidentally overhear. "Do you have any idea where this is?"

She was almost sure she was going to be ignored again. But instead, the raven-haired man closed his eyes in annoyance and gave a tiny sigh in defeat. "I don't know."

Fantastic. Never in a million years would she imagine that out of all people, she'd be trapped with Sasuke in a place neither of them knew ever existed on the face of this earth. She hadn't seen anyone else she recognized since she mysteriously landed here.

Oh, god. And she knew he tried to hurt her again, _twice_ just now. How awkward is that. But judging from that single attempt, it seemed like their powers didn't work in a place like this. Never mind that, the people here seemed rather... too ordinary.

... Was this a universe co-existing completely independent of the Shinobi world?

"I don't know how we ended up here, but we're definitely not anywhere near Konoha or any of the villages. It looks like the people here don't recognize us as apart of this place, either. They've been looking at us suspiciously for awhile now."

The pink-haired girl watched the Uchiha speak as he finally began to contribute more to their cause. She subsequently darted her gaze around them with only the slightest tilt of her head to be careful, taking note of the street-passers who sent them strange looks, some of in which were laughing at them explicitly.

It was true. She hadn't failed to notice that earlier herself, obviously, being delivered smacked onto the ground and all.

But if that was the case, it made even more sense that that they had to stick together if they wanted to figure out how to leave this place together. For the time being, it didn't matter how the two of them even got here in the first place.

"It'd be best to stay together for now." Sakura exclaimed, feeling slightly nervous as she suggested it. "It'd be bad if we got separated and something unfortunate happens."

She searched his face for a response, for anything that represented a look of approval, but it remained as expressionless as ever. It wasn't until he closed his eyes dismissively and turned to walk in the opposite direction that she frowned and began to follow his footsteps.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't have any obligation to do that." Sasuke said cooly, his back still turned.

At this, Sakura felt her own annoyance beginning to rise. What could he possibly gain from being stubborn at a time like this? The two of them managed to snake their way through the crowds easily, as if they were deliberately parting for them. "You're saying you're just going to find a way out of this by yourself, then?"

She watched as the Uchiha paused in his tracks, forcing her to stop hers as well just a few footsteps behind. She was surprised when he deliberately shifted himself around this time to face her, his foot in a slight pivot to turn himself back at any moment. His expression was cold and serious.

"I'm saying I don't have any intention to stay with you. Not even in a world like this."

Sakura didn't bother to follow him any further, but instead remained lost in amidst of the crowd as the Uchiha tore his gaze away from her without the slightest bit of hesitation and vanished among the sea of people.


	2. Part II: You & I

**Previous Chapter Summary:** When an enigma takes place on the battlefield, Sakura finds herself in the middle of a place she's never seen before in her life. On top of that, she's here with Sasuke, who doesn't seem to want anything to do with her. What does she plan on doing next?

 **A/N:** Aaa thank you all for the positive feedback on the first chapter! I am definitely planning on eventually following through with this story, though from here on out I might be either busy or blocked especially during certain parts of the fic I have in store :D.. I greatly appreciate the patience and support!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part II: You & I

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"I don't understand what his problem is."

Sakura paced herself down the sidewalk of the busy metropolitan street within the new environment, aware of the many pairs of eyes on her but could care less in the moment of her explicit rant.

"I get how awkward it is that this kind of thing happens right after I tried to stop him from leaving again.. But isn't it a bit too thickheaded of him to act that way? What are we, twelve?" She continued, laying out heavy steps in front of her as her strides bursted with anger. After a few minutes of cooling off, she sighed in defeat.

"Whatever. If he wants to be like that, I can fend on my own, too."

Despite the confident words, the fact that she had been hurt was written all over her face. _Then again, i_ _t's not like it's the first time, anyway._

In the meantime, the viridian-eyed girl decided to preoccupy herself by observing the new village more closely. Tiny children ran out and about in front of her, and she watched as a little girl laughed a toothy grin when a boy similar to her age chased her around the street corner. Shuffling near them in panic was an older adult screaming at them to stay together.

Sakura looked to her left, eyes leaving the civilians as she took a moment to stop and observe a tiny stall hidden in between two large clothing stores. The stall may have been miniature, but she could see that the inside was covered with what seemed like hundreds of ancient Japanese masks for sale. Before she knew it, her feet took her inside the tiny business.

 _So pretty!_ She admired the works hung on the wall in awe, scanning the intricate craftsmanship of every golden swirl and speckle. Some of the masks were animals, but most seemed to be either monsters or humans in every shape and size you could imagine. _It kind of looks like something the ANBU would wear, maybe if they got a promotion or something._

Sakura chuckled to herself in her own amusement, earning a look of disturbance from the old grandpa sitting at the nearby counter. She noted his stare and flashed a sheepish smile before turning to exit back onto the pathway.

However, right when she got another good look at the busy streets, something else caught her eye. Or rather, _someone_ in particular. A boy with bright blonde hair stood out among a tightly squeezed crowd, and she watched as he began to hurriedly shuffle around the corner where the two kids were running about earlier.

At this, Sakura felt her heart race faster as she automatically began to dash further out onto the sidewalk, keeping her eyes glued in the direction of the blonde boy as she tried as fast as she could to catch up to him. She turned the corner in a harsh pivot, but was upset when there was no sight of him amidst the many groups of civilians. After a few more minutes of scanning the area, she found herself winding up in a large alleyway between two tall buildings with again, no blonde in sight.

She sighed in disappointment. Maybe she was just imagining things. But if that's who she thought it was, then maybe she and Sasuke weren't the on-

"Hey, you."

She stopped in her tracks as a large hand grabbed onto her shoulder in assertion. Her attention that was preoccupied on the blonde broke, and she turned herself around to face the large, muscular man behind her with long, dark purple hair sleeked back into a ponytail. He didn't look like he had good business with her.

The man that had a hand on her spoke in a husky tone. "You lost, hunny? You don't look like you're from Tokyo."

Sakura flinched as the man used his other hand to caress the side of her bangs, but she was too busy pondering at his words to do anything about it. _Tokyo? Is this the name of the place?_

Shaking what was irrelevant at this moment off, she scowled in return and took a step back, smacking his hand away with a harsh sound. "Don't touch me, you bastard." She hissed.

"Ouch, fierce." The purple-haired man shook his smacked hand casually, eyeing her with a lewd spark in his gaze. "That's not the way you treat someone who just wants to welcome you into the city.."

The man began to step closer towards her, forcing her to step back as he got further into her personal space. Sakura maintained a strong expression, clenching her fists but gasped when she felt her back hit the hard brick wall of the building behind her. The purple-haired man loomed closer to her until he was only inches away, his tall stature towering disgustingly over her petite frame.

"How about I show you around and we have some fun, shall we?"

It wasn't until he leaned in closer and reached for her front zipper that all of her senses heightened in an instant. She gathered as much power into her hands as she could, mustering every single shred of anger within before lunging it into his face.

"I said don't you _dare_ touch me, you sleazy bastard!"

To her surprise and dismay, her anticipated blow failed to affect him in the slightest bit. Instead, she stood wide-eyed as the man caught her fist in his hands that were evidently larger than hers, grasping so tightly that she felt like he could break her fingers if he wanted to.

He was stronger than her.

At this, Sakura felt her heart drop, and almost instantaneously she was thrown into a state of irrevocable panic.

Never had she failed to see the destructive effects of her blows with the single swing of her fist. At this rate, she could only be reminded of the weak person she was before, unable to do anything in her own defense.

"You're so cute," The man smirked, lowering her fist down but still keeping her locked tightly into his grasp. ".. Thinking you can fight back and all."

Just when she had thought there was no way out of this, she remembered when Sasuke had tried to place an attack on her earlier. Similarly, his technique failed to happen. Suddenly, it made sense that way.

If it was true that ninjutsu didn't work in a place like _Tokyo_ , then of course her punches were futile. The overall source of her immense strength which could break bones and kill living targets were from the buildup of chakra into her fists. If chakra was something that didn't exist in this world, all of their powers would render useless.

Despite that, Sakura managed a smirk in return. "This is rather unfortunate for me. But in the end, you're just a guy after all."

"What?" The man furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The next thing he knew, he let out a wide-eyed choke as the pink-haired girl lifted her knee up with all of the pure strength she could muster, targeting his most precious area with a loud thud.

"FUCK!"

The man cursed out loud and retracted from her vicinity, holding himself in pain while shooting her a deathly glare. "You are so _fucking_ done, you bitch."

And in an instant, the purple-haired man lunged at her once more, this time successfully grasping onto the red collar of her shirt and pushing her forehead back against the brick wall. Sakura grunted at the harsh gesture, letting out a yelp as the man didn't hesitate to rip the fabric in his hand, tearing the zipper off with force to reveal the light camisole she wore underneath.

 _Shit_ , she cursed to herself, regretting not taking the chance to make more attacks on him. She didn't know what he was capable of. Her body continued to squirm in his grasp as he fought to go further, but at this point he was way too strong for her.

"Just you wait until I'm done with you, you little brat." The man spat at her face, and another rise of panic began to boil inside of the pink-haired girl. "You won't be seeing the da-"

Suddenly, the man grunted as his forehead bashed into the wall beside of her head from a kick in the neck behind. Seeing a chance to escape, Sakura twisted herself around and backed up from his vicinity. She noted her savior, who stood on the other side without seeming like had to break a sweat.

"Sasuke-kun?" His name ran out of her mouth in awe as she made eye contact with the Uchiha, who stared back at her across the purple-haired man. Did he come back for her?

She watched as his eyes scanned towards her collarbone and shoulder, which only seemed to be half-covered by the red fabric that threatened to fall at the side. At this, Sakura felt a pink tinge creep onto her cheeks. _No, not like this!_ She groaned to herself.

Instead, Sasuke smirked triumphantly. "I guess you don't seem to be so powerful in this world, either."

"You little shits." The man twisted himself around, holding his forehead that started to trickle with blood down past his nose. "I'll fucking kill you!"

The purple-haired man lunged himself towards the Uchiha, though he hadn't been agile enough to dodge another blow to his chest with a kick in the air from the raven-haired man.

The offender dropped to the ground with a large thud, trembling in pain with his head thrown back as he continued to wince. Sakura watched as the Uchiha treaded himself closer to him before stepping a harsh foot onto the man's stomach.

"Y-You bastard-" The man with the ponytail shifted his gaze back up towards Sasuke, but widened his eyes as he saw that in his hands was a sharp Kunai on guard, threatening to be thrown down at any given moment. "What the hell!?"

At this, the man squirmed on the ground before finally propping himself up onto his feet, receiving a deathly glare from the Uchiha. "Y-You people are fucking crazy!"

"Hey! What's happening over here?"

The pink-haired girl shifted her attention towards two older men standing at the entrance to the alleyway, wearing blue uniforms and black hats, complete with navy chest guards. Sasuke's gaze soon followed as well, once the purple-haired man had stumbled himself over towards the two men in a frenzy.

After a few seconds, the Uchiha darted back towards his ex-teammate, wearing a serious expression on his face.

"Run."

And so they did, without looking back once as a rush of voices called after them to stand put.

* * *

Sakura scrunched her knees up to her chest as she leaned back on the thick tree in the middle of a tiny residential park. The two of them had wounded up here after fleeing from the alleyway scene before they could get into further trouble.

Here and there she'd sneak a few looks at the raven-haired man sitting across from her, leaning against his own tree that was a few metres away, but still close enough for them to make needed conversation. The air was silent for the past few minutes with neither of them speaking despite eachother's company. Instead, he kept his eyes shut closed and arms crossed casually as if he were in deep thought.

She had been utterly embarrassed with herself over the incident from earlier. If Sasuke hadn't come, she wasn't sure what was going to happen to her right then and there.

"Thanks for saving me back there." Sakura said in almost a whisper, though the slow opening of the Uchiha's eyes told her that she had been heard.

"I just happened to be passing by." He replied in nonchalance, earning a bit of disappointment from the pink-haired girl.

She knew she could've done better. Even without chakra reserves, the years of rigorous training with Tsunade prepared her for any type of enemy in any kind of situation. Simple Taijutsu combined with her innate strength probably would've been enough to take that man down. She had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't like her usual self. There's no way she was anything like the way she was back in her Genin days.

And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she choked. That's all. In front of the person she loved and wanted desperately to make amends with, at that.

The pink-haired girl clutched onto the side of her ripped shirt, making a half-assed attempt to pull it back up into place. At this, Sasuke glanced over at her movement almost instantaneously. He observed for a few seconds as she struggled to keep the fabric in place on her shoulder.

She was more quiet than usual, or more than he had been used to in the past and upon arrival in this city. The one thing he knew about Sakura other than the fact that she was the only person in the world who would claim to love him after all of his misdeeds, was that she may be a headstrong woman but she was no emotional warrior. Right now, the defeated look on her face told him that she must've been beating herself up for what happened earlier.

They were in the same team once upon a time, after all. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary that he'd know her in that way.

Sakura froze for a moment after hearing movement return from across, lifting her head up to see that Sasuke had reached for the purple obi around his waist and slowly began to untie the knot.

 _What the hell is he doing?_ Her cheeks turned rosy at the ideas rising inside of her head.

Instead, the raven-haired man proceeded to unwrap the blue cloth around his waist before scrunching it up in his hands and effortlessly throwing it into the air until it landed in smooth succession at her feet.

Sakura stared at the cloth in front of her for a few seconds before gazing over at the Uchiha in confusion. He returned her eye contact with a solemn expression.

"Use it for now."

Suddenly, she understood what he meant. Without hesitation, she reached over and picked up the blue cloth and proceeded to wrap it around her shoulders, her heart beginning to race as she recognized his familiar scent. "Thanks."

"Seeing as what's been happening, it's confirmed that the concept of chakra doesn't exist here." Sasuke started, unclear as to whether or not he had been attempting to change the direction of the atmosphere. Nevertheless, what he was saying was true. Of course he had noticed it as well.

"It's called Tokyo, this place we're at." Sakura responded, ".. At least that's what the creep said."

At this, Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "How did you get involved with someone like that in the first place?"

Her heart sank. She didn't want to think about that anymore. "He just approached me and tried to get all chummy. That's all."

"In that case, it's best to be more careful from now on." He continued, "With our powers rendered useless, we're as vulnerable as ever. A lot of things may be similar to the Shinobi world here, but we don't know these people or anything else about this place."

"Do you also think that this place co-exists with the Shinobi world?" Sakura retorted her thought from earlier on, "If so, then there has to be a way to get back."

"It's highly likely. If that's the case, we'll need to investigate further until we see a way out."

The two of them grasped at the further silence enveloping the air, until the viridian-eyed girl managed to speak again. "So, what does this mean for us?"

She watched his expression intently for an answer. There really was no other choice at this point. She had already run into trouble, and there was no telling what other things could happen to them if they didn't have eachother by their sides. If they were going to do this, they had to work as a team.

He knew that much, right? Unless if she was really as annoying as he said she was.

"Until the two of us get back to where we came from," Sasuke started after some time, reverting her attention back to the conversation. "We'll need to stay close."

At this, Sakura couldn't help the smile that grew on her face as she rejoiced and found relief in this new revelation.

A large gust of wind blew against the large dogwood trees from above, scattering the crows that had been perched dubiously ontop of its branches. The two of them looked up at the sky above, realizing that it had quickly turned into a somber grey.

"It's getting dark soon," Sakura observed, "We'll need a place to stay."

She watched as the Uchiha began to prop himself up onto his feet. "This will do."

Without a moment of hesitation, Sasuke placed a steady hand on top of the abnormally tall tree he had been leaning against, earning a much surprised look from the pink-haired girl who started to gaze around their vicinity in full alert. "Um, Sasuke-kun, I don't think the civilians here are accustomed to people having a night shut-eye in their mother nature."

"It's for the time being." He insisted with a grunt as he propped a leg up and started to shift his chakra-less body up onto the wood. "It'll have to make do until-"

Just as he had begun his attempt to climb the tree like the relatively normal human being he thought he was, he froze in his movements and watched with horror as a little girl peered at him from the other side of the dogwood as if she were trying not to get caught. She stood mouth hanging wide open, wide-eyed at his half-climbing gesture while the two of them maintained awkward eye contact for the next few seconds.

"MAMA!" The girl suddenly yelped without breaking the gaze. On the other hand, Sakura bolted up from her spot and the Uchiha quickly reorganized himself back to the ground.

Yeah, forget about that.

* * *

"These people are _humans_ , Sasuke-kun, normal human beings!"

The Uchiha paced along the residential sidewalk in annoyance, trying his best to ignore his new yet old ally from close behind that wouldn't stop picking at him for the situation from earlier.

Sakura couldn't help letting out her laughter. It was hilarious seeing _the_ Sasuke Uchiha doing things completely out of his stoic character in a world where people thought they were crazy for doing what seemed like normal Shinobi things. "They haven't seen anything abnormal in their lives and you just tried to sleep in a 40-feet tree!"

"Just let it go, okay?" He hissed back without bothering to face her.

She tried to be as serious as she could, though bouts of giggles kept trying to escape from her mouth. "What if she called the police on you?"

"Then I'll fight them."

"Maybe we can try here,"

At this, Sasuke felt another spike of annoyance. "Is it your turn to try and make camp in a tree? Don't expect me to come save you again if-"

"No, Sasuke-kun. _Here_."

He paused in his tracks at the shift of her amused tone, turning himself around in the direction of her gaze towards the adjacent side of the sidewalk. Past the evergreen lawn and walkway towards a tiny brown building, a large board hung at the front dimly lit by sidelights.

APARTMENTS FOR RENT - TENANTS NEEDED

Automatically, Sakura's feet drew her towards the building as if she were in a trance. Sasuke peered up at the building, which seemed small but not too shabby. He followed her closely from behind, unwillingly and in doubt at first, but then stopped as the two of them approached a small doorway with long glass windows on either side.

"We don't have any money." He says in a quiet voice as the pink-haired girl leaned into the glass for a view of the tiny lobby inside.

The viridian-eyed girl watched a mans shadow move around from behind a translucent glass divider at a marble counter. She observed him for awhile as he took a sip of a drink before reaching his hands up and running his fingers through his hair.

After a few seconds, Sakura let a mischievous grin creep onto her face as she jolted back towards the Uchiha, who flinched at the growing excitement in her shining eyes.

"Leave it to me."


	3. Part III: Game Plan

**Previous Chapter Summary:** After roaming around the streets of the unfamiliar place she was at, Sakura runs into trouble! She learns that this mysterious place was called Tokyo. Fortunately, Sasuke comes to her rescue before anything bad could happen. The two of them compromise and decide to work together to leave this place. Their first task is to find somewhere to stay for the nights to come.

 **A/N:** Thank you for waiting everybody! Here is Chapter 3! Sorry if there are any errors, I didn't really proofread this one much.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part III: Game Plan

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* * *

"You're sure about this."

It was more like a statement of confirmation rather than a question. The raven-haired man watched as the viridian-eyed girl swiped off the blue shawl he had given her just a few moments earlier. In a quick movement, she threw the cloth into the air in a swish and didn't bother watching as it managed to land effortlessly into his arms.

"It'll work." Sakura grinned mischievously, her voice overconfident. He furrowed his eyebrows in doubt as she began to rip the side of her shirt further so that it exposed more of her white camisole. Her hands darted up to ruffle her hair into a messy, tousled look.

"You're-"

"I'm going. Just follow me from behind and don't say anything."

The next thing he knew, out of no choice whatsoever, Sasuke began to tail the pink-haired girl from behind as she swung the door open and trotted herself inside the building.

Inside was an aesthetically-pleasing arrangement of neutral tones of browns, blacks, and greys. It wasn't anything like they've seen before- the space seemed to be used really well despite how small it was. A miniature lobby was on the left hand side with a few nude couches and a nice chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The marble floor shined from beneath their feet as the two of them made their way closer towards the counter where the man was.

 _I hate to say something like this, but this should be an easy one especially in a world of pure humans._ Sakura tried her best not to grin under her cover, but secretly rejoiced inside. _We're ninjas, after all. How many times have we gone undercover during-_

Suddenly, as the two of them were about to approach the counter only a few steps away, her eyes widened at the clear sight of the man behind the translucent divider. Sasuke immediately sensed the change in Sakura's wavering pace, and as soon as he snuck a look ahead, his eyes seemed to have widened as well.

It's-

"Hi there, how can I help you?"

Before they knew it, the two of them had already reached the counter and was face-to-face with, well... a familiar face.

Sakura scanned the sight in front of her. She noted the green dress shirt, the fluttering lashes.. the jet black bowl-cut hair that seemed to shine under the ambient light from above them.

 _..Lee!?_ The pink-haired girl nearly let her mouth fly wide open as she eyed the man. No matter how much she analyzed him further, it was definitely the Taijutsu-user, youth-loving ninja from Team 9. The only difference was that he was dressed in strangely _normal_ clothes.

At this point, she had been completely unaware that he had been eyeing back at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion for the past few seconds.

".. I said can I help you with something, _Miss?_ "

Sakura gave a cough to clear her throat. Unknown to her, she had received an unsure look from the silent Uchiha from behind, who was now standing himself a few steps away as if he were claiming that he wanted nothing to do with whatever rose next. However, she quickly managed to grab her composure back together for her plan. Whatever this was, whoever this really was.. this was good. _It's good that it's Lee. In fact, it's even better that it's Lee._

"You see.." The pink-haired girl swung herself forward onto the counter in a sudden movement, earning a slight flinch from the bowl-cut man behind the counter. She gave an exasperated sigh in defeat and leaned in so that he could clearly see the tearing of her shirt and the tire in her viridian eyes.

"My friend and I have been travelling for days without any shelter or food. We're on a long, long journey back home and we even lost all of our belongings! Just now, a strange man tried to attack me and do indecent things to me... JUST LOOK AT THIS!"

The Lee-doppleganger leaned back further as the pink-haired girl nearly shoved herself towards him over the counter, wincing in disgust at the state of her own clothes.

The bowl-cut man remained apathetic. "Well, that certainly isn't alright."

At this, the Uchiha shifted himself to the side and placed a hand over his face.

"I know, it's terrible!" Sakura continued. She noticed that Lee's eyes began to wander towards Sasuke, and in a split second she managed to shove herself to the side to block his view, earning a much annoyed look in return. "Oh, god, my friend is so shocked about this that he can't even speak! I really don't know what to do at this point."

Sasuke nearly scoffed. _But at least that part is true._

"-He's even tried to sleep in a tree! It's getting _that_ bad! I'm really afraid that he's starting to become delusional if we stay like this..."

 _Alright. I'd definitely murder her ass for that one later._

"Well... Seems like you two have been through quite a lot." Lee managed to reply, though it was obvious to the Uchiha that the tone of his voice suggested that he hadn't been bought.

"Mhm." Sakura raised a hand to wipe a pretend tear, clenching onto every last hope that this would work. "So that's how it is. So if you would be so kind, Sir, if you could just help us out and lend us-"

"No."

The following moment of lingering silence seemed to have lasted an eternity. Sasuke and Sakura froze in their movements while Lee began to shuffle some papers on the desk as if matters were done and settled.

However, the pink-haired girl was rather baffled and couldn't help the annoyance beginning to muster inside of her. "Excuse you!"

She had retreated herself from leaning over the counter, but just as Lee had shoved the papers back down onto the marble and was about to burst something in return, the raven-haired man had managed to put himself in between the two of them before things got awry.

"Nevermind about this." Sasuke says in a voice as calm as he could manage despite his own annoyance. "We'll take this elsewhere."

Just as he had spoken his words, he shot a sharp glare at the pink-haired girl from behind. What the two of them failed to notice was the new shimmering in the doppleganger's eyes and that in the next second, Sasuke was forced to turn back around with a quick tug of his sleeve.

"OH, honey! It's so so SO unfortunate for your situation, really!"

The raven-haired man winced at the abnormally high-pitched tone of the Konoha doppleganger as Lee subsequently grabbed two of the Uchiha's hands and held them close to his chest. Sakura leaned her head over to the side to see past Sasuke's back, mouth hanging open in awe.

Wait. Is Lee... _Seriously?_

"Uh, we-"

"For you, handsome, I can whip up a little something."

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow, visibly uncomfortable as Lee used one of his hands to reach inside his back pocket and pulled out a set of small silver keys with a tag attached. He dangled them in the air for a few seconds, shooting the raven-haired man a quick wink before opening one of Sasuke's palms and dropping them inside.

 _Are you serious?_ Sakura watched as the metal clanked together once it reached the Uchiha's hands.

"A businessperson took off a few days ago on an emergency trip to Dubai. It turns out they aren't coming back so they've left their entire place up for grabs." Lee proceeded to lean in on the raven-haired boy, almost tickling his ear as he whispered into it.

 _"It's totally okay, you can pay in installments. Anything is possible for you."_

Finally, as he let go of his hands and shot him a lovesick smile, he began to blow the Uchiha a tiny kiss in the air. "See you around!"

Sasuke didn't reply, but instead turned his head back to make eye contact with the pink-haired girl from behind. However, instead of showing her an expression of how awful that was, it seemed like he felt rather triumphant about this situation.

Sakura didn't bother detecting it though as her eyes wandered to the silver metal in her partner's hands and then back at Lee, who was now busy arranging boxes at the adjacent counter from theirs.

"Um, excuse me, that was ever-so-kind of you to do that." She tried hard not to let the bitterness show through in her voice, but something told her that it was audibly detectable. "But there's two of us, so we'll need one more space."

"Nu-uh, not for you honey, no dice."

The pink-haired girl bit her lip in annoyance as the modern bowl-cut man waved a finger in the air absent-mindedly, not bothering to make eye contact with her as he then proceeded to work.

 _He's not going to give me one?_ She thought, _But doesn't that mean.._

Her eyes met the apathetic orbs of the Uchiha as the two of them stood in silence for the next few seconds, more awkward for her as her face began to tinge a tiny shade of red.

"Well, let's go then." Sakura watched as Sasuke hung the set of keys around one of his fingers with the tiny silver loop, clenching it into his palm while he turned around and started his stride away from the counter.

"Unless if you want to check out the tree outside. That's fine too."

* * *

"Room 325 should be around here if the numbers are getting bigger."

The two of them strolled down the long bare halls of the building after walking up three tedious flights of stairs, the raven-haired man focused on each door number they passed while Sakura occasionally gazed out of the large glass windows to their left.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't control how fast her heart was beating at the moment. She was embarrassed over her failed attempt back there, and not to mention completely shaken over the idea of sharing a living space with Sasuke.

She brought a hand up to her chest as if she could stop her beating pulse with the pressure of her palm. Something like this would never have happened back in Konoha, not in a million years. Everything that was happening seemed to be a huge uncanny circumstance. The two of them hadn't spent this much time together in _years_ , but being in this world really seemed to emphasize the fact that they had known eachother for almost their entire lives.

Her eyes peeled away from the dark night and wandered back up ahead, observing the strong strides of Sasuke's walk and the straightness of his back. He didn't seem to mind this situation. Then again, he probably only thinks of it as a necessity to surviving in this world. Even so, it was a new step in renewing their bonds.

"Are you looking too, or are you going to continue sulking?"

His ignorant voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I'm not sulking." She talked back. He must be ashamed about her failed attempt.

"Your 'plan' didn't work. Hopefully you'll come up with something better next time."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance, immediately regretting having thought they could get along again.

"Are you making fun of me? It's not like you had anything better to suggest."

"No, I'm not making fun of you." He started nonchalantly, letting a smirk appear on his lips that was conveniently hidden from her view.

"I'm just saying this makes us even, now."

At this, Sakura's feet slowly came to a stop before she stood in place, eyes still staring at the Uchiha while he continued forward.

Was he trying to cheer her up just now?

"It's here."

She heard Sasuke speak from far up ahead as he stopped and stood in front of a mahogany doorway with a gold plaque hung on the surface labeled "325". Sakura hurried to his side, watching as he stuck one of the keys in and gave the doorknob a twist and push.

When they entered their new living quarters, a fresh scent filled the air and into their noses. She wasn't sure about Sasuke, but... it wasn't like anything like she'd ever seen. Sakura walked further in first, head turning side to side as if she were in a trance.

It wasn't a _huge_ area, but definitely quite spacious for two. Everything was furnished lavishly. Not to say it looked extremely high end, but the furniture was placed very meticulously and functionally. The space was a color scheme of obsidian marble and dark brown. The floor was a wooden dark grey, and a kitchen was placed on their right while the bedroom and bathroom were on their left. Far up ahead, there was a large balcony facing the simplistic living room.

"It's amazing. It looks so different from what we have in Konoha!" The pink-haired girl felt her spirits rise up almost immediately, forgetting her earlier inner conflict as she grinned before shifting her body around to face the Uchiha. He didn't seem to show much emotion, but he definitely seemed to be silently impressed with the space himself.

"We've definitely lucked out on this one." Sakura continued, brushing her fingers across the smooth, creamy leather sofa. "We'll need to figure a few more things out from here on out, though."

"Which means tonight, we'll need to get to work." The raven-haired man spoke, closing his eyes for a few seconds in affirmation. "You understand, right?"

At this, the pink-haired girl grinned a determined smile, giving him a firm nod in return.

* * *

"We have to talk about what happened earlier."

Two hours into arriving inside their new living quarters of Tokyo, Sasuke and Sakura settled themselves outside on the balcony, the lukewarm night air brushing their skin and the bright city lights gleaming out from the distance.

"That was definitely Lee alright." Sakura said in affirmation into the breezy atmosphere, her elbows resting on the balcony edge as her eyes wandered through the night scenery.

Sasuke on the other hand, sat himself down on the balcony chair to her left, legs spread casually with his arms crossed deep in thought. "If our theory of an alternate universe is true, then that must mean there are more people we know back in the Shinobi world who are living as humans here."

"It does sound plausible that way. It didn't seem like he knew us at all." Sakura continued, "Not to mention he wasn't at all like how he is as a ninja."

"That's right."

In the next few seconds of silence, she once again contemplated telling him about the blonde she saw earlier. However, her train of thought was broken by a sudden idea.

"But, I think this might be the easiest way to integrate ourselves into this society." She started, earning the raven-haired mans undivided attention. "If there really are more people we might recognize, despite them not knowing who we are, we'll be much more adept at forming relationships with the civilians that way."

At this, Sasuke gave a sly smirk in amusement. "You mean like how you managed to do with Lee?"

The pink-haired girl scowled. "You're telling me that it's easier to be buddy buddy with gangsters like the one that attacked me?"

Instead of rebuttling, Sasuke leaned in on his seat and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together in conclusion. "Well, if we're going to do this, we'll need a plan." He started, "Our goal is to lay low. We don't want to stand out too much or people will start getting suspiscious."

"Again, it's not going to be very normal of us if we don't assimilate into the regular lives of humans." Sakura retorted. "We'll need some sort of income, and I doubt these people are used to going on S-rank missions."

"In that case, we'll need some sort of job. A mundane job that humans usually work at."

"That can't be too hard. It's not that different, right? I mean Ino works at a flower shop, and I've helped out at this restaurant a few times befo-"

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl paused as a realization came to mind. She eyed the Uchiha, who now had a doubtful look on his face.

Oh, right. _The_ Sasuke Uchiha _working!?_ What's he gonna be, a waiter? A cashier? The sight would be hilarious!

At this, Sakura couldn't help but give a laugh out loud. The raven-haired man grunted in annoyance.

"Well, aside from that," He started again, changing the subject. "If we're going to hide our identity as Shinobi and find a way out of this.. we'll need a larger environment to blend in with the civilians and go from there."

A small silence broke out in the air as the two of them became engulfed in thought. However, the pink-haired girl widened her eyes in a eureka moment and snapped her fingers.

"We need to go to school!"

Sasuke simply blinked at the suggestion, the idea of going to a school full of humans running through his head. It seemed like an annoying idea, no doubt... But it wasn't a bad suggestion in terms of their situation.

"It'd be a perfect opportunity to blend in as well as learn more about this city, not to mention befriend some people." Sakura continued with her proposal, a new brightness showing in her voice. "Kind of sounds like fun too, huh?"

She could tell he was hesitating for awhile, but in the end the Uchiha managed a nod in agreement with the plan.

"It's settled then. We'll set out first thing tomorrow morning." Sasuke stretched his legs up from the chair and pushed the sliding door aside, letting himself back in. "We'll rest for the night."

At this, the pink-haired girl nodded. She followed her way back inside as well, until a new thought struck her.

"Um, the bedroom-"

She paused at the sight of Sasuke lowering himself down onto the leather couch, leaning back into its soft material. He immediately closed his eyes, though she still shot him a puzzled expression.

It was as if he knew. "You're telling me you want to be the one freezing on the couch with a blanket while you're still like that? I don't mind moving again if you speak now."

Sakura looked down towards her shirt, which was still ripped from the incident earlier on in the day. She gave a little awkward cough to hide her embarrassment.

"Goodnight, then." She said in a quiet tone, beginning to walk off towards the single bedroom on the other side. She didn't bother looking back at him, otherwise he might see how flushed she really was. "And thanks."

Sasuke didn't reply, but instead slowly lifted an eyelid open and watched as the pink-haired girl disappeared into the bedroom while the door shut silently behind her.


	4. Part IV: Tokyo Gakuen & The First Task

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sakura devises a plan to acquire the apartment space they've managed come across.. although things went into a shocking turn as the landlord seemed a bit _too_ familiar? Lee!? On top of that, her plan had utterly failed! Nevertheless, thanks to Sasuke's pretty boy face, the two of them still managed to find a roof above their heads in the new city they were inhabiting. After much discussion, Sasuke and Sakura come up with the conclusion of attending a school in order to make connections and eventually navigate their way out of this world.

 **A/N:** It's been quite awhile, I know, and I thank you for the patience! Part of the reason why updates have been so slow is because I keep changing the direction of the story, and I didn't want to post anything until I had it all figured out. I think I'll be sticking to what I have in store right now, so stay tuned for more! The other reason is because you know, life is a real thing, and I do enjoy living it outside of the internet.

** An OC has appeared in this chapter! I normally don't like using OC's because I feel like it takes away the realism of the original story, but since they aren't in the Shinobi world, it's only natural they'll run into many new people right? Because, I mean someone needs to eventually make Sasuke jea-

Well. Enjoy!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part IV: Tokyo Gakuen & The First Task

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The following morning, the two of them had planned to set out earlier in the new city they had just made home in. The reason was so that they could scout out the school Sasuke had come across in the brochures down at the lobby of their new apartment. They had decided to leave matters such as food and jobs for their next task- after all, it was convenient that the school wasn't too far from where they were staying, and it shouldn't take too long to check it out.

"It's this place." The Uchiha peered out from behind the tall, thick tree along the cement sidewalk. "It's the one I came across in the brochure."

Likewise, the pink-haired girl also stuck her head out from the adjacent tree, giving the large building in front of them a thorough scan. Tall steel-black gates circled the perimeter of the giant, glass architecture in front of them. Sakura's mouth nearly dropped to the floor at the luxurious sight. The thing was _huge!_ Even bigger than the Hokage's headquarters! Man.. modern civilians had it good.

Instead of ogling the same sight, Sasuke's eyes fell among the large crowds of uniformed students both chatting and laughing as they entered the property through the main gates. The students blended in with eachother in a sea of black blazers, some looking years older while others seemed to be just entering middle school. He studied them carefully for a few seconds.

"It's a good thing we made ourselves look more presentable to the people of this city. We would've stuck out for sure."

Sakura tore her gaze off the institution, nodding her head at the Uchiha in agreement. She looked down at herself, noting the thick-strapped white tank top she wore in addition to her knee-high dark pants. She decided to leave her pouch of weapons at home.. yeah, it was probably better off that way.

Her eyes then wandered over to the Uchiha, who on the other hand, settled with a plain black V-neck he had found in the closet of the businessman's house and a pair of grey joggers. For a brief moment, she was in awe at how different he looked as a civilian that blended in with the humans. I mean, don't take her words out of context but, he seemed so.. harmless. Like he couldn't hurt a fly, or even attempt to kill her for all that mattered.

Well, not that they were capable of anything in this world. It was a strange sight, but there's no denying that he looked good as always.

"Now that we've tracked down where the school is, it'll be easier for us to observe up close before we-"

"Hey, you two! What do you think you're doing!?"

The two of them froze at the sudden sound of a screeching voice from behind. They eventually turned around, slowly at first, before meeting eyes with a frighteningly tall woman who wore an explicitly unpleasant look on her face.

Sakura scanned the woman thoroughly, her gaze finally resting on a bronze tag on the side of her shirt. _Principal?_

"Hiding behind here at a time like this.. Do you think you can escape your first day back at school? Huh? You think you guys are such delinquents, huh!?" The woman's narrow almond eyes glared the two of them up and down in utter disgust. "Ugh, and you're not even wearing your uniforms... I'll have to put this onto your student file later- I swear, the newcomers always do this on the first day. Get inside and grab a uniform, will you? There's spares in the office. GO!"

"Wait-"

Before they knew it, Sasuke and Sakura found themselves being dragged off by the lanky woman through the front gates of their next destination.

* * *

"Well, this came on sooner than expected."

The pink-haired girl adjusted the side of her uniform's skirt, making sure it was at an appropriate length compared to the girls who giggled past the two of them down the hall. The Uchiha frowned at his new get-up, a black blazer of his own with matching pants and a white dress shirt. He would've rather settled for the joggers and t-shirt. Poor humans, this wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing to wear.

"We'll have to give the school our information later." Sasuke spoke nonchalantly, regaining his focus onto the current situation. "Seeing as how sudden things went.. we'll have to stick to our original plan."

Sakura turned her head towards him as they made their way down the long, blank corridors of the school. She sent him a light nod. "Make connections, but create the least amount of attention as possible."

The Uchiha returned her statement with a look of approval before returning to scan their surroundings. "Let's find our class, then."

Students seemed to be roaming the halls endlessly, some struggling to find their classrooms while others were already inside and chatting with people they appeared to be well acquainted with. He wasn't sure how they were supposed to integrate themselves into a society like this... but it had to be done.

After all, he had things to take care of back at Konoha.

His obsidian orbs ventured to the scene to his right, where long panes of glass lined the wall and all around the middle open area of the school. You could see another building right across from the one they were at, and two others lined on each side in the style of a quadrangle. The middle area was a outdoor sanctuary with benches and a stone walkway crossing down the center.

He didn't want to admit that it looked relatively.. aesthetically pleasing. Also, it was much different from the villages back in the Shinobi world. The "city" was truly an interesting area.

"Oh! Here's our class."

His attention was brought back to the pink-haired girl, who stopped walking and turned to face a doorway labeled 3-A. The raven-haired man observed what he could from where they were standing, noticing a few students' backs as they sat away from their line of sight.

"Ow!"

Sakura's yelp caught him by surprise as he quickly turned to see her stumble over a bit before regaining her balance, rubbing her shoulder which seemed to have accidentally knocked into a boy who was now standing before them.

The pink-haired girl eyed the unfamiliar male. He was around Sasuke's height, his silver hair worn in a carefree look with his bangs revealing cerulean blue eyes. Judging from his expression, he didn't seem phased by their painful encounter or their unnatural stares.

"Ah, newcomers." The boy spoke in a low, nonchalant tone, though it didn't seem like he was planning on finishing what he was saying. Instead, he scanned the two of them up and down in return before landing his gaze on the girl he had bumped into.

Sakura's defensive nature heightened as the boy smirked mischievously and proceeded to reach an arm out towards her, as if he were about to grab her by the neck. She stood as still as she could, trying not to immediately break out into uncivilized methods of protection. Sasuke stood passively on the side, but watching with intent as Sakura held her breath while the boy gripped the red ribbon around her neck and then briefly shifted it clockwise.

Her eyes flickered from his hand that slowly moved back to his side to meet his gaze as he flashed her another nonchalant grin, feigning all innocence. "It was crooked. Don't I get a thanks?"

If she hadn't managed to detect the sarcasm in his voice, she might've considered thanking him for it. But this person gave off a vibe that seemed to be filled with mockery and personal entertainment. It was unsettling.

The three of them stood amidst the sea of people rushing around them, silent as if it were a three man showdown. The Uchiha continued to observe their new encounter with growing caution, while Sakura wore a look on her face that signified she wasn't about to lose her guard.

Suddenly, a loud ringing noise pierced through their ears, breaking the tension between the three of them. The students around them began to rush faster until most of them had quickly managed to disappear out of sight and into their classrooms.

Likewise, the boy flashed the two of them a last sly grin before ducking into the class in front of them. Looks like there was going to be more where that came from. At this, Sasuke and Sakura gave eachother a look of affirmation before walking in themselves.

As they entered through the sliding door, everybody seemed to quiet down all at once. It wasn't until the two of them had walked in mid-way through that a sudden realization washed over them. They seemed to have noticed this at the same time; as their eyes became wide in shock as if it were deer in headlights.

Ino.

Hinata.

Shikamaru.

Chouji.

Those were the four faces they had immediately noticed among the approximate 30 students sitting in their desks. The rest seemed to be strangers. No movement was detected except for the scattering of the silver-haired boy pulling his chair back and sitting himself down casually with his legs sprawled in the aisle.

 _So it's true that there are more people we know living here as humans,_ Sakura concluded. She took some time to quickly make observations about her friends back in Konoha. No doubt, all of them looked similar if not exactly the same as the ones she knew. It was strange seeing them in an unfamiliar environment like this.

Well, the same could be said about themselves. The pink-haired girl turned her head towards the Uchiha, who cocked his head to the side suggesting the two of them to hurry into their seats.

"Looks like we've got two new kids with us this year."

The two of them froze at the sound of a familiar voice coming from behind. Their reactions didn't suggest any surprise as to who the voice belonged to, because it was definitely expected as to who the teacher of the class would be. Years after learning from the same sensei between the both of them, it wasn't a difficult task.

 _Wait a second._

At the same time, the two of them shot eachother suspicious looks from the corner of their eyes. At that moment, to Sakura's surprise.. she knew they were thinking the exact same thing.

 _If Kakashi is a human in this world..._ Sasuke thought,

 _... Then that means it'll finally be revealed as to what's under his mask,_ the pink-haired girl finished.

It honestly was the least the Uchiha could care about in this world right now. But for god's sake, if there was a 0.001% chance of Sasuke harbouring any kind of curiosity at this given moment, it would be this.

And so, the two of them jolted their head back, only to feel their hearts sink at the sight before them.

"Is something the matter?" Their sensei eyed them with suspicion at their growing concern over the mask he wore on half of his face. It looked relatively the same as the one he fashioned in Konoha, though the texture seemed to be a bit different. Upon realization that the students were all staring at him, he finally got the message and sighed.

"You guys aren't the sufferers of _allergies_ , I presume?" The sensei cut himself through the pink-haired girl and the obsidian-eyed boy, making his way towards the teachers podium at the front. The students began to snicker quietly at the scene before Kakashi settled his briefcase down and shot the two of them a serious look.

"Now get to your seats, unless you plan on having class on your feet."

At this, the two of them immediately moved towards the two available seats in the class. To Sakura's dismay, she grimaced at the sight of an open spot by the window next to the silver-haired boy they had encountered earlier. On the other side of him was another open spot. She glanced over at the Uchiha, who seemed to pay no attention to their separated placement and took the seat that was away from the window.

So, it left her no choice but to sit where she had an extraordinary view of the quadrangle garden. It wasn't too bad except for the fact that she had to be next to this weird ribbon-fixing guy. On her way to her seat, she noticed Ino sitting behind her with her arms crossed as she observed Sakura's every moment. The pink-haired girl ignored her best friend's doppleganger for the moment as she noticed Kakashi slip out a stack of papers from his dark brown briefcase. The class watched as he then proceeded to hold them up for everybody to see.

"I need you guys to fill this out. It's a fun little quiz.. just for me to get to know you guys better."

At this, a series of sighs radiated throughout the class in which were quickly shushed by their sensei. Upon scanning the room further, Sasuke noted the Chouji doppleganger sitting in front of him as he groaned and proceeded to stuff a bag of chips into his schoolbag.

 _Giving a quiz right at the beginning is definitely something Kakashi-sensei would do._ Sakura thought, remembering back to when team 7 had their bell test. Oh, how long has it been since then..

 _This might be inconvenient for us._ The raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes at the piece of paper slowly being passed back to him from the front row. _If they ask us explicit questions in detail, then-_

"Here ya go!"

Sasuke's thought was interrupted as the team 8 member placed a copy of the quiz on top of his desk. As he picked it up and began to scan its contents, he furrowed his eyebrows at what he saw.

Name:

Date:

1) What are your likes and dislikes?

2) Any Hobbies?

Contrary to what he had expected, there were only two questions on the front page, and it was more like a little introduction survey rather than a quiz. Upon reading them, the Uchiha couldn't find the words to describe the inevitable deja vu from the day Team 7 first gave their introductions. Even in an alternate universe, it was uncanny that some things never change. He could also say the same thing about the answers he was about to write.

 _"My Name is Uchiha Sasuke,"_

 _The raven-haired boy started in a low tone, earning the undivided attention of his new teammates and their teacher. Hell, this entire process was a mere stepping stone in his life goal. There was no need to be courteous and beat around the bush._

 _"There are many things that I hate, and there aren't many things that I like." He continued, his teammates still watching as they listened to his every word._

Immediately, he paused his thought as his gaze traveled to the corner of his eye, pass the silver-haired boy and to the pink-haired girl who seemed to visibly notice the nostalgia of these questions herself.

Oh.

He froze in sudden realization. It was then that he remembered..

 _"Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream.."_

..Wasn't there supposed to be one more question, then?

 _"-The revival of my clan.. and to kill a certain man."_

Instinctively, the Uchiha slipped a finger underneath the corner of the paper, turning it over without further anticipation. The one question in the middle of the entire white page stuck out to him like a sore thumb.

 **3) What are your dreams for the future?**

Likewise, Sakura found herself also staring blankly at the question she knew all-too-well Sasuke's answer back in the day. The times when she and Naruto had been completely oblivious to everything, where she were as naive as to think things could've been the same forever if he had just come back from going rogue. Surely- No, _definitely_ , he had different plans now.

Well, if Sasuke-kun had changed a lot since then, so did she. And instead of wanting to be a bride as her lifelong dream.. there was nothing else she'd yearn more than to have her friendship back with team 7.

The class fell into silence for the next few minutes, with only the sound of pencils tapping in the air. After a few moments, Kakashi slammed the book he had been reading shut with a loud noise, grabbing everybody's attention towards him.

"Alright, times up. Please pass them forward."

A shuffling of papers filled the room as each student passed their sheets to the person in front of them until their sensei had received a nice stack in his hands. Before saying anything else, the class remained quiet as they watched him quickly scan a few of the papers' contents, nodding with approval at most of the responses.

When he shuffled a sheet back to look at the next survey, upon examining both sides, he raised an eyebrow at the blank question in the back of one of the sheets.

 _Sasuke Uchiha,_ He thought.. _Well, it'll come to him sooner or later._

"Now that that's done, let's move on." Kakashi placed the surveys back into a neat pile, aligning them at the center of the podium and clearing his throat before gazing back up at the students with a sudden grin.

"We'll need a class president."


	5. Part V: For a Friend

**Previous Chapter Summary:** After a drastic change in their plans, Sasuke and Sakura went from simply scouting out their potential school to being regular students in a high school classroom. The two of them run into a boy outside of their class as their first encounter with another student, and once they get settled into their new environment with more familiar faces, Kakashi announces that the new year calls for a new class president.

 **A/N:** New chapter! Thank you everybody for waiting! I apologize if this chapter is a bit too long to read. However, I'd like to mention one thing.. please do _kindly_ remind me to update if its been 100000 years. Sometimes knowing people are still waiting helps me get going on it faster rather than dawdling at my own pace, which I know can take awhile hehe.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part V: For a Friend

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"Well, any suggestions?"

Kakashi's question rang out into the open air, though there still wasn't a single person who had volunteered for the role of the class president. Instead, most of the students refrained from eye contact while Sasuke and Sakura wore a look of pure confusion on their faces.

 _Class president?_ The Uchiha repeated the foreign words to himself. It was rather self-explanatory as to what the title represented, but it remained unclear as to what business a person deemed 'president' would have to oblige to. Whatever it was, it sounded like a nuisance for them.

 _It'd be best for us to lay low on this one,_ Sakura thought, sneaking a glance at the raven-haired boy. _Who knows what trouble we'll run into.._

"I thought this would happen... getting shy here now, are we? It's a good thing I've prepared secondary measures, then."

At that moment, Kakashi bent down and reached for something under the lower level of the podium, the class watching intently as he then pulled out a tiny tin can filled with popsicle sticks.

The silver-haired man observed his audience's reactions, which only seemed to be filled with confusion while others remained passive. He then held the tin in the air, his other hand ready to reach for one of the wooden sticks.

"The first name that I pull out will be deemed class president. Any issues with it can be voiced directly."

All of a sudden, the silence of the class turned into a series of groans and expressions filled with fear.

 _It'll be fine._ The Uchiha closed his eyes in positivity, brows furrowing in thought. He then opened them back up and looked over at the pink-haired girl, who watched Kakashi in anticipation. _Sakura and I were deemed new students just moments ago. There's no way our name could have anyhow made it into the tin._

"Ino Yamanaka."

The pink-haired girl froze at designated name thrown in the air. The rest of the students watched as their sensei held the chosen stick up with his other hand, with tiny black letters that resembled the characters of her best friend's name. How wonderful. Of all people to have been chosen, it would be Ino.

As far as Sakura could remember, her and Ino had some kind of eternal inferiority battle between them in all situations. Don't get her wrong, she had absolutely no desire to become the class president or whatever, but even in an alternate universe, it was annoying to think that the pig probably thought of herself as better than the rest.

With that in mind, the pink-haired girl shifted herself around her seat to look at her best friend as the rest the class also darted their eyes towards their new president.

 _Come to think of it, I wonder how Ino's like here,_ Sakura thought. _I wouldn't be surprised if-_

Suddenly, her eyes went wide in surprise as she stared at the light blonde doppleganger sitting behind her. It was the spitting image of her best friend alright, but for some reason she was quite different from the one she knew back at home.

Instead of bellowing out some kind of obnoxious statement, Ino's face shone bright red as she kept her head down at her lap. Sakura looked below and noticed the trembling of her hands, her fingers nervously picking at eachother while she seemed busy mumbling to herself.

"No... not class president, no. I can't do it."

 _Don't tell me.._ Sakura narrowed her eyes in realization, .. _Ino has a complete opposite personality in this world?_

"Any objections?" Their teachers voice ripped through the silent air. No words were said following his question.

"Okay. Then, Ino, would you please come up and introduce yourself properly to the class?"

The light-blonde girl shot her head up, her face reeking of complete and utter horror. All eyes were set on the doppleganger as she didn't seem to respond to their teachers command, but instead remained in her seat while the trembling only got worse.

 _It won't be possible at this rate._ The pink-haired girl pondered, noting the watery eyes of her friend. _If it goes on like this.._

"Ino?" Kakashi repeated once more, raising an eyebrow at the lack of response. "Is something the matter?"

Another few seconds passed by in silence, the light-blonde girl still unable to say anything in her defense. The Uchiha was probably the only student that didn't pay attention to the scene, both him and the silver-haired boy they had met earlier. Instead, the raven-haired man simply closed his eyes and waited for this moment to finish.

"I- Um,"

 _Ino Yamanaka, you pig-headed girl,_ Sakura cursed as she closed her eyes. _When I get back to Konoha, I'm going to let you know just how much of a bad idea this was._

"I'll do it."

At the sound of his comrades voice, the Uchiha immediately flickered his eyes in alert and jolted his head to the side, looking past the silver-haired boy who still remained apathetic and eyed the pink-haired girl who had shot up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table in affirmation.

"I'll be the class president."

Another wave of ominous silence broke through the air after the pink-haired girl made the announcement, her viridian-eyes looking at the teacher as if it weren't a request. Almost immediately as she had said it, she felt a slight regret seeing as how she didn't seem to be very well-received by her audience.

Well, not that they really knew who she was in the first place. The light-blonde girl watched the back of her saviour, her mouth left a little open at her sudden proposition.

The Uchiha had somewhat of a similar response as Ino. He couldn't help but feel an eye twitch at the pink-haired girl's sudden resolve. _So much for attracting the least attention._

"Very well, then." Kakashi cleared his throat with a dry cough, "Sakura, I believe? You may come up and Introduce yourself." _I believe she and that boy are new students here._

Despite how nervous she now felt, Sakura tried her very best to kept her composure as she began her walk to the front of the class. She didn't stop to look anybody in the eye, though she swore all 30 pairs were on her until Kakashi stepped aside from the podium for her to take over.

Upon seeing everybody's gaze, she took a large gulp. Now that she was actually up here, she realized she had absolutely no idea what to even start with for a mere introduction. If this were in the Shinobi world, there would be no problem, but her and Sasuke hadn't enough time to create a backstory for themselves here. _Hello everyone, I'm Sakura Haruno, a Chuunin medical ninja from the Leaf Village and the disciple of the Fifth Hokage!_

 _It'd make me a huge laughingstock here,_ the pink haired girl thought, shaking the idea away. _I'll just have to stick to the basics and make stuff up along the way!_

"Hello everyone.." She began, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. The Uchiha, on the other hand, flinched at the beginning of her sentence.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." She continued, eyeing everybody one last time as she took another long, hard gulp.

"Uh, I like reading books in my spare time and my favorite food is anmitsu." She managed, "My goal in the future is to become a doctor.. and since this is my first time here at this school, I hope everybody can take care of me."

Her introduction was followed by an awkward silence, which eventually turned into comprehensive acknowledgements with claps. _Oh, thank god._

"Great," Kakashi gave a single nod of approval. The pink-haired girl looked at him, who stood on the side apathetically, waiting for some kind of cue for her to sit back down.

"Now then, we're going to discuss your first task as class president."

At this, Sakura tensed up again.

"To commemorate the new school year, we'll be having a welcome back festival." The pink-haired girl watched as her sensei took a few steps towards the podium while addressing the class. After a few seconds, his gaze fixed back towards their new president.

"Your job as class president is to figure out what and how we'll be making our contribution this year."

The pink-haired girl stood, eyes wide open at the new hurdle. Likewise, her companion sitting among the audience didn't seem too pleased at their situation either.

 _Okay, a festival. This can't be too hard,_ She thought, creating her best shot at self-reassurance.

"Well, any ideas?"

 _I seriously overestimate myself._ Immediately, the pink-haired girl felt a rush of panic wash over her. It had been years since she last went to a festival- The Leaf village hadn't exactly been very celebratory lately. Even so, what were festivals usually like in this city?

"Ahh.. that's- um.."

Sasuke watched with a pained expression at his ex-teammate's clear hesitation. How annoying, this is why they shouldn't be jumping into foreign situations without-

"We should just do a cosplay cafe."

As another persons' voice broke into the air, Sasuke turned to look at the silver-haired boy that they had encountered earlier, who managed to interrupt Sakura's awkward moment with his sudden suggestion. The pink-haired girl blinked once, not knowing whether or not she should be grateful- mostly because she had no idea what that even was.

"Yes! A cosplay cafe." Sakura laughed nervously, sticking a finger up the air in agreement. Slowly, the class began to reciprocate in affirmation.

"Ah, it sounds like fun!"

"Hellyeah! I want to see the girls in maid costumes!"

As the students began to talk one over another, it wasn't long before the room was filled with discussion and excitement. At this, Sakura placed a hand over her chest and closed her eyes, sighing in relief.

When she opened them back up, she noted the silver-haired boy who had helped her out. Despite being the one throwing in the suggestion, he leaned his head against the palm of his hand apathetically as if he had no part in this, eyes wandering elsewhere from the chatter.

"Why don't you help Sakura out with the prepations, Katsuya?" Kakashi spoke, catching the gaze of the silver-haired boy who now looked rather bothered. "It looks like we'll benefit from a vice president."

 _Katsuya._ Sakura noted, remembering their strange encounter from outside of the class.

In response, the boy named Katsuya clicked his tongue and shut his striking blue eyes in annoyance, though he didn't proceed to make any objections towards their sensei. Sasuke though, on the other hand, wore an explicit frown on his face that she swore could pierce through her.

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"We were supposed to lay _low,_ Sakura."

The Uchiha crossed his arms as he stood in front of the pink-haired girl while she rested her back on the wall of the school staircase.

After it was decided that she would become the class president, Kakashi had let the class go early for break. The two of them had yet to figure out how regular school days went on here, but before they could get that in check, Sasuke had suddenly pulled her aside for an urgent meeting.

"I know." She started calmly, "But did you see the people in there? Most of them were people we knew. I couldn't just sit back and let Ino-"

"You think empathizing with someone who merely resembles your friend can get us out of here?" He spat, narrowing his eyes at her.

As the atmosphere began to turn tense, Sakura felt herself becoming more defensive.

"Sasuke-kun, I-"

"These people may look the same as the ones back in the Shinobi world, but they're not. You have absolutely no ties with them- there's no reason why you had to do something like that."

The pink-haired girl furrowed her eyebrows. Even if he was Sasuke-kun, this was a bit too much. "Our goal here is to make connections. What better way for us to do that than for me to become the class president?"

"Taking on a huge role like being president is too much involvement with matters that are irrelevant." Sasuke posited, maintaining his firmness. "Just like how you let your emotions with Ino get in the way."

Sakura gritted her teeth, but for some reason, she saw the direction of this conversation.

"Why are you so opposed to this?"

"It obstructs our goal."

At this, the pink-haired girl suddenly felt her heart drop down to her stomach. As her expression became more loose and then tinged with sadness, a series of flashbacks began running themselves through her head.

 _"Having too many bonds causes one to lose focus, weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."_

 _"I know the four of us could work together. And for awhile, I thought I could choose that path instead, but in the end.. I've decided on revenge."_

 _".. That's always been my purpose for living."_

Oh, she was such an idiot.

Sasuke's idea of "connections" was distorted and clearly different from the rest of them; how could she ever forget that.

Knowing her old teammate, he was the type that would get done only what he needed to get done. He probably had planned for them to remain isolated from everybody, while at the same time finding opportunities to gather information whenever convenient.

.. What was she expecting, being thrown into a random city with the person she loved, living under the same roof and being together at all times? It didn't mean anything.

Clearly, the two of them had been on completely different pages since they got here.

 _The distance between them was still too great._

"Again, Sasuke-kun." In a small whisper, she retorted back, her eyes hooded sullenly. "You're pushing yourself away again."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura took a brief moment to contemplate their current situation. Sure, taking on a major role like a class president may be troublesome for them, but they had no choice but to adapt into this city. That was a fact, and it was inevitable now.

Maintaining her gaze for a little while longer, the Uchiha then turned around dismissively.

"If you keep letting things like that get in the way, you'll never achieve your goal."

"No, actually, I'm going to be _fine._ " Sakura began in a confident tone, almost catching the Uchiha by surprise. He had never really experienced an aggressive tone from her. "Sasuke-kun, like you said, we're in a world where Shinobi don't exist- where you and I are stripped down to the very bare human core. So can't you rely on your comrade a little more?"

Instead of retorting back, the Uchiha continued to stay frozen at his spot. The tense air remained for a few moments as Sakura then noted the fact that once again, he had began walking away with only his back left for her to see.

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 _Can't you rely on your comrade a little more?_

The Uchiha paced down the busy hallway aimlessly, ignorant of the the way people stared at him. Though he was rather annoyed, his face seemed expressionless, the only thing giving of his foul mood being the terrible aura that surrounded him.

It wasn't that he thought Sakura wouldn't be capable of such a task. That wasn't it at all. It's funny that he'd say this, but despite obviously being away for a long time, he knew from the battlefield that she wasn't the same weak little girl as before. A task like becoming the class president in a human's world was minuscule compared to the constant life of bloodshed for a Shinobi.

Rather that, it was something else that urged him subconsciously to act that way.

 _"I'm done fooling around with you guys in the Leaf."_ _The renegade Uchiha spat through his teeth, his eyes adopting a new look of anger._

 _"How exactly do you take your comrades in the Leaf!?"_

 _In a split second, the golden-haired boy raised a high fist in the air before slamming it directly on the side of his best friend's face, blood splattering onto both of their skins. Sasuke headed straight down towards the ground before Naruto wrung his head back up by his collar._

 _The blonde glared at his friend below, waiting for a distinct answer. As the two of them made eye contact again, the Uchiha furrowed his eyebrows in rage._

 _"Comrades..." Sasuke gritted,_

 _"Did I become stronger staying with those so-called comrades!?"_

.. How pathetic.

To him, the only goal for them right now was to play their part well enough to get out of this overly cheerful place. After all, he had more important things to settle with back in the Shinobi world.

His fight with Naruto.

"Two melon breads, please!"

"HEY, STOP PUSHING! GET BACK IN THE LINE, WILL YA?"

While finishing his last thought, the Uchiha paused in his tracks at a large commotion taking place to the right of the hallway. He noted the giant crowd hovering over what seemed like a tiny stand, and once he narrowed his eyes further, his eyes took in a tiny merchant scavenging around in anxiety handing out melon bread to his customers.

As if on cue, Sasuke felt an empty gurgle take place inside the pit of his stomach. In amidst of everything that had happened earlier on, he had completely forgotten that he and Sakura hadn't even had their first meal of the day yet. Originally, they had planned to do research on job scouting after the school to earn a means of income, but since their course of path has changed..

Automatically, his feet brought him towards the crowd, and he managed to slip himself in a spot nicely without being a victim of an overriding human barricade.

As he expertly weaved his way through the crowd, he noted the fact that many of the females had parted out of his way after noticing his presence. Ignoring the shy mutters and comments about his looks, his eyes were fixated on the tiny male merchant, who appeared to be just a young boy wearing thick rimmed glasses.

After the boy had finished handing out a batch of buns from his arm, Sasuke had managed to make eye contact with him. "Could I get a melon bun?"

"For sure!" The tiny boy bent down for a mere second, disappearing from the stand before popping back up with a new handful of bread.

"That'll be _200 yen_ please!"

At this, the Uchiha merely stood and gave the merchant an expressionless stare, which remained for awhile until the boy glanced around nervously at the other waiting members of the crowd before back at the raven-haired boy.

"Er, excuse me? I said that'll be 200 yen."

Oh. So these things cost money in human schools.

How unnecessary. For a simple bun like this, humans go crazy. Judging from the frantic crowd, it was definitely safe to assume that these were initially free.

"Ahh, do you need some money?"

The Uchiha's attention was brought back by the sound of a familiar voice, one that spoke right beside him. He noted the appearance of bright red hair from the corner of his eye, and it wasn't until he shifted his head that he realized he was standing next to an all too familiar individual.

"Karin?" The raven-haired boy slipped aloud under his breath, though not ambiguous enough to go unnoticed. Immediately, the girl with the red glasses turned a shade that matched the color of her hair.

 _He knows my name!?_ She revered inside, _Don't tell me he had his eyes on me and had been watching me from my class... Oh man, how lucky am I to have run into this heavenly boy!?_

The Uchiha found himself leaning away from the lovestruck girl, who clasped her hands together and eyed him in lust. Well, guess some things don't change in this world.

Turning to the merchant, Karin flashed a grin and raised a hand. "His melon bun will be on me, Watari-kun!"

"Got it, Karin!"

 _It seems she's well acquainted with the melon bun boy,_ the raven-haired man thought as she watched the merchant hand two cross-hatched buns sealed in plastic towards his temporary teammate back in the Shinobi world.

"Take it, will you?" The red-haired girl held out the item in her hand as the Uchiha's eyes traveled to the perfectly shaped bread. After a few seconds, he too reached and took it into his own hand.

"Thanks." It felt strange thanking Karin, after all, it wasn't something rather common back in the Shinobi world. However, he had realized that if they were going to survive here, he had to have some level of acceptable courtesy towards people, whether he knew of them or not.

The two of them then proceeded to jumble themselves out of the crowd and into the clear hallway. With that, the problem of having lunch had been temporarily solved.

At that moment, an unwarranted thought processed itself into Sasuke's head. If he had been lucky enough to be treated by someone he knew back in Konoha..

What's Sakura going to do about herself?

.. Surely, she wouldn't have gotten lucky like he did.

"Sooo..." Karin shifted her legs in her standing spot, staring at the ground with another redness overtaking her face despite the Uchiha gazing at the bun in his hand in what seemed like deep thought. "What's your name?"

 _That girl, she must be caught up in herself over earlier,_ Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes blankly. Karin tilted her head in front of his face, though his attention was still occupied elsewhere.

 _It'll be more complicated if she starved for the whole day and didn't have the energy to finish our tasks._ On top of that, they still had to figure out how they were going to get their meals from now on.

".. Hellooo?"

The Uchiha processed a hand waving in front of him to regain his gaze, though he voluntary looked up at the red-haired girl who seemed taken aback by his sudden attention.

"Karin." He slips out her name cooly, "Could I trouble you to get me one more bun?"

At this, the girl with the red glasses blinked in confusion. Taking her time in processing an answer, she decided this would've been a great opportunity to come in contact with this boy again.

Wearing a smug look on her face, Karin crossed her arms and smirked. "Hm. Only if you promise you owe me one the next time we meet."

Her proposition earned another expressionless stare from the Uchiha, half annoyed that he'd have to socialize with her again. However, she did help him out in a time of need, especially in a new environment like this. If it weren't for the fact that she was a mere human, he would've never agreed to such a thing, especially when it seemed like she had the upper hand.

"Fine."

Karin's smirk soon turned into a soft smile, feeling her heart pound faster at the thought. "It's usually a limit of one bun per customer.. but I think I can work something out. I know the merchant, after all." Immediately, she turned herself around and prepared to weave back into the growing crowd.

Before disappearing, she turned her head back in curiosity. "Who's it for?"

At the sudden question, Sasuke felt his mouth loosen from its firm closure, quickly pondering the easiest way to explain it without arising any more unnecessary conversation or questions.

Come to think of it, how should he refer to that girl while being a member of this world? Immediately, his mind raced through the associations he had with her back in Konoha, a string of unwarranted flashbacks and memories resurfacing in his head- of Team 7, of Naruto, of Kakashi, of her.

Comrade? Teammate? Partners of war?

.. The person he had once come to care about after-

No, those terms would definitely arise strange suspicions.

 _Ah, how annoying._

Karin cocked her head to the side in anticipation of his answer, though Sasuke then closed his eyes and shoved a hand in his pocket.

"A friend."


	6. Part VI: Bonds

**Previous Chapter Summary:** After it was decided that Sakura would be the new class president of the year, Sasuke didn't seem to be too pleased with the result. They have a small argument outside of class, one that managed to separate the two of them for a bit. The Uchiha realizes that he doesn't have any money for lunch, but fortunately (or unfortunately?) a familiar comrade of his comes to the rescue. Despite his argument with Sakura from earlier, he figures it would be better for her not to starve for today.

 **A/N:** Surprisingly, I managed to get this chapter done quite fast. - D- Sorry if its a bit boring..

By the way, out of sheer curiosity, I have a question for you. What do you think, as a reader, of Sasuke's feelings in this world right now? What does he think of Sakura at this point in their relationship? - It'll help me a lot to know that what I want to convey is going in the right direction :'D.. maybe I'll ask things like this from now on.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part VI: Bonds

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 _If you keep letting things like that get in the way, you'll never achieve your goal._

.. But was it such a sin to help a friend?

Sakura pondered this as she stared out of the window from her seat, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. Even though it was break hour, it's not like she had anywhere special to be- especially not after her little squabble with Sasuke. She found herself winding back inside the classroom, finding solace in her thoughts despite the chattering of within her vicinity.

She had realized that even though everyone was busy away eating, she had no idea what to do about her own food. Well, not that she really had a stomach right now.

"The new class president is sulking by herself near the window. What a depressing sight."

The pink-haired girl jolted her gaze towards the opposite side, watching as the boy that had helped her earlier lugged himself towards the seat beside hers. Over his shoulder, she saw that he clutched onto a plastic bag with his fingers, probably filled with food.

She waited until he pulled his chair out and loosely sat himself down, placing the bag onto his desk before responding. "Why'd you suddenly help me out earlier?"

"Isn't it because you looked too pathetic up there?" Katsuya said cooly in a low tone.

Frowning at his answer, Sakura gave a little pout.

"Thanks, I guess." She muttered under her breath.

"Whatever."

As he began to shuffle through the contents of the bag, he paused and snuck a glance from the corner of his eye at the pink-haired girl's desk, which had nothing on it. "Where's your lunch?"

"Not hungry." Sakura exclaimed defensively, furrowing her brows with pride. However, the sound that subsequently came from her stomach greatly betrayed her words. _You weren't hungry just a few minutes ago, shannaro!_

"Yeah, okay." The silver-haired boy rolled his cerulean blue eyes. After awhile, he gave a little sigh in defeat and scooped a hand inside his bag. She watched as he then pulled out two rice balls wrapped in seaweed from his palm.

To her surprise, he then held them out in the air between them, making no eye contact with her but instead keeping his head straight ahead, looking rather uninterested. "Take them. I bought too many."

Sakura blinked once before eyeing the rice balls in his hand, and then towards Katsuya himself. She took a moment as if she were contemplating whether to accept them or not. As she observed him further, she tried her best to recall anybody he reminded her of back at home. After failing to come up with anything, she concluded that he was just a mere human residing in this world, separate from anybody she knew in Konoha.

She eyed him once more just to make sure, but this time, he made eye contact with her and there was a flicker of annoyance in his pupils. "I said take them- do it before I change my mind."

Well, if anything, his demeanor did resemble Sasuke-kun a little bit.

With a single reach of her hand, Sakura took the offering into her own grasp, sending the boy a smile. At least he wasn't as sour as he looked.

"Thanks." She furthered her grin, earning a parted-lip surprise from her new friend at her genuine expression.

"Sakura-san?"

At the sound of a feminine voice, the pink-haired girl turned around to make eye contact with Ino, her best friend that she had managed to save awhile ago. She watched as the blonde pulled her chair out from the seat behind her, sitting herself down with her legs still sprawled in the aisle.

"T-Thanks for earlier. You really helped me out there."

 _Wow, is this Ino or is this Hinata?_ Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit of internal amusement at the polarity between her best friend here compared to the one she knew back at home. The pink-haired girl proceeded to shift her body to the side so that she was facing Katsuya, even though her gaze remained fixed on Ino.

"It's nothing." Sakura responded with a benevolent smile, receiving one in return. It was strange hearing Ino thank her in such a straightforward manner, but she didn't hate it.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino.. as you've probably heard earlier."

"I'm Haruno Sakura."

The pink-haired girl began to unwrap the plastic cover of the first onigiri in her hands, while at the same time listening to the small drabble that Ino had shyly began about the upcoming school year. Katsuya also silently opened his first onigiri, whipping it out faster than she could as he took a single clean bite from the triangular top.

At this, Sakura couldn't help but feel that things were going to go well here. If Sasuke-kun couldn't agree with that, then so be it.

* * *

The Uchiha paced himself towards the classroom, shifting his gaze from side to side to make sure that he hadn't passed it already. As the students around him roamed about, chattering in meaningless laughter, he looked down at the melon bun in his hands with an ominous stare.

It wasn't really that big of a deal. If they were going to continue doing this, he just had to make sure his partner was going to live to see the next day. And by that, he meant having the decency to feed her when necessary.

That's right. only because it was necessary.

Sasuke nearly felt himself flinch as he imagined the annoyingly cheerful expression on the pink-haired girl's face once she sees he's made an effort towards their 'friendship'.

As he approached the doorway of the class, the raven-haired boy gently slid the screen open with his hand, revealing a half-empty classroom with the rest of the students scattered among the desks and leaning against the walls.

Over on the distant left side by the window, he noted the presence of the person he had been searching for, only he didn't seem to be very pleased with what was already in her hand. As he registered the rice ball that she had been chewing on, he also took note of Ino and the silver-haired boy who sat around her. The three of them seemed to be discussing something that was followed by a series of laughter from the pink-haired girl and the blonde, the boy uninterested but still wearing a smirk on his face.

For some reason, Sasuke felt as if the room had stretched longer, bigger, farther so that the gap between him and the rest of those guys became larger than it really was.

 _That kind of world.._

At that moment, his obsidian orbs came in contact with viridian jewels, ones that became slightly hooded after noticing his presence at the door.

Without eliciting any kind of emotion on his face, the Uchiha shifted his body halfway around as he prepared to make an exit. However, as soon as he had pivoted his foot in the other direction, a hand had slapped itself on his right shoulder, and he felt a tight squeeze before turning his head around to see who it belonged to.

"Yo! You with the funny, spiky-looking hair!"

Immediately, the Uchiha frowned at the name. His eyes narrowed into slits as they met with black orbs similar to his own, only they didn't reek of solitude.

"Why such a sour look on your face? You're a new student, aren't you? I'm Nara Shikamaru."

"What of it?" Sasuke responded in a low tone, registering the shadow-user from back in Konoha. He hadn't been close to Shikamaru all that much in his Genin days- in fact, the two of them had rarely interacted at all. However, he had remembered him to be quite a smart individual.. definitely not the vibe that he was giving off right now.

"Ah, I hate downers. Don't be like this, come join us for lunch so we can get to know you better!"

Sasuke studied the boy he had encountered on the battlefield just a day ago, his expression still way too cheerful. His hair remained the same, the tall spiked black locks pulled into a high ponytail on the top of his head. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't too much different from his own. _Funny, spiky-looking hair?_

His gaze traveled towards where Shikamaru's finger had pointed, the far back center of the classroom. He wasn't surprised to see two other people he had known, Hinata and Chouji, sharing a desk with their lunch sprawled on the table. To their left was Sakura as well as the other two individuals.

"Come, on! You're a little slow, aren't you?" In the next second, Sasuke felt the human shadow-user plant his arm around the back of the Uchiha's neck, letting it droop loosely down his shoulder. Before he knew it, he was being navigated towards the back of the class.

As the two of them walked down the aisle towards their destination, the Uchiha darted his eyes towards the side, again making dubious eye contact with the pink-haired girl, who immediately shot her gaze back down as she took another bite of her rice.

"Shikamaru! Don't scare new people on their first day!" Hinata chastised, plopping a Calbee chip into her mouth and lifting her legs off of the chair supporting her feet as the two of them approached the desk. For some reason, she was also a lot more livelier than how he managed to recall.

"It's okay, it's okay! He seems to be a pretty bitter guy but I'm sure he's harmless!"

"Hinata, stop gettin your crumbs onto my desk! I hate it when people eat like this!"

Chouji narrowed his eyes at the girl with long, blue-tinted hair, who shot him an apathetic expression as she continued to casually munch on her snack.

"My name's Akimichi Chouji. This is Hyuuga Hinata, not that she really cares about meeting you." The boy, who had been a lot skinnier than the one in Konoha, spat. The Uchiha stared at the two of them, expressionless.

"Rude. That's totally not true." Hinata licked the tip of her fingers, tasting the residue of the curry flavored chips. Turning her gaze to the raven-haired boy, she flashed a pretentious smile. "What's your name?"

He hesitated before speaking. For a split second, he thought about what would benefit from becoming acquainted with these three, but then he remembered his true goal here. _Comrades, eh?_ Closing his eyes conclusively, he introduced himself.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Upon hearing the new name, the silver-haired boy who had their back towards them lifted his head, turning it halfway around so that part of his face was seen from their view. "Ah, it's the other new student."

Sasuke, though unmoving, shifted his gaze to note the boy he came in contact with earlier, the same one who was going to be working alongside Sakura. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in amusement as he noticed the pink-haired girl by the window.

"Oh? It's the class president. Wouldn't it be a good idea for us to all have lunch together?"

At this, Sakura froze in the middle of a new bite, while Ino gave a subtle smile. "In that case, let's combine our tables."

In the next moment, Katsuya was being forced to move so that he shared Sakura's desk, while Chouji pushed his table closer to Ino so that the group merged into one little section. Sasuke sat in front of Hinata, his body shifted to the side so that he faced Sakura from afar.

As the blonde introduced herself to Sasuke, followed by an unwilling Katsuya, the pink-haired girl kept her eyes down- not too sure why she felt like avoiding his gaze. Despite not making any eye contact, she couldn't help but notice the two melon buns he had placed onto the desk when he sat himself down. How did he manage to get that?

The Uchiha then lifted his eyes towards the pink-haired girl, fully aware of her curiosity. In the next second, without wavering his gaze, he grabbed hold of a single bun from the table and shoved it to his other side, right into the chest of Konoha's shadow-user.

Sasuke didn't look at his reaction to know that he was confused. "It's an extra." He claimed in a monotone voice.

"Woah! How did you get this?" Shikamaru took it into his hands willingly, eyes glowing. "I thought it was only one person per bun?"

"Doesn't matter. Just take it." The Uchiha spat, closing his eyes in annoyance.

"So, where are you guys from?" Hinata raised the question into the air, gaining sudden interest in the newbies. In an instant, Sasuke and Sakura shot eachother a look, feeling all pairs of eyes on them in growing curiosity.

 _This is bad-_ Sakura thought in panic.

 _-We'll just have to stick to something._ Sasuke concluded. With that, the two of them opened their mouths to respond at the same time.

"Down the street,"

"-Far away from here."

An ominous silence rang through the air, nothing but distant chatters from the other students around them as everybody remained frozen in place. Sakura flinched at their disharmonious response while the raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Wait," Chouji broke the strange atmosphere, "do you guys live together?"

After a moment of hesitation and another deep breath from Sakura, they started again.

"Well, kind of."

"-We don't."

At this, the pink-haired girl felt a deathly glare from the Uchiha, one that caused a shiver down her spine. Their audience continued to raise their brows, chewing their food in confusion and further curiosity. Clearly, this wasn't going in a good direction.

Finally, she decided to start again. This time, she eyed him to make sure he wasn't going to speak as well. "What we mean to say is, we come from the same apartment complex and we're both from places far away from the city. That's why we aren't so familiar with it."

A series of 'Ahh's' and 'Ohh's' filled the group, and she couldn't help but feel a sigh of relief from inside. The Uchiha closed his eyes dismissively.

"Wait, so does that mean you two are already acquainted somehow? After all, you did come in together today."

At this, Sakura let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her neck.

"I guess it's something like that-"

"-I don't know her at all."

At this, another series of silence embodied the air, though this time around Sasuke seemed to have given up on reacting to the outcome of their responses.

Shikamaru bursted out in sudden laughter, catching the Uchiha by surprise as his eyes shot wide open. "You two are hilarious! You seem to get along with eachother really well."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted under his breath, preparing to unwrap his own melon bun. Sakura let out a another nervous laugh.

"I think I'll be looking forward to the welcome festival this year." Ino mentioned on another note, her voice tiny.

"Yeah, a cosplay cafe sounds fun. Good job on that, Katsuya!" Shikamaru flashed the silver-haired boy a silly grin, who rolled his eyes. "Come to think of it, Sakura, do you have any ideas on what theme you'd like to do?"

At this, the pink-haired girl felt all the attention darting towards herself, with the exception of the two boys that seemed rather uninterested. Those two really were a lot more similar than she'd like to think.

"Uh.." She opened her mouth, trying to quickly come up with a random suggestion that would be deemed acceptable. _Cosplay cafe?_ What does that even mean? Were they going to open up a restaurant or something here?

"A ramen cafe..?" She spoke slowly, carefully watching the expressions of her new, but old friends.

After a moment of pondering her answer, Hinata clicked her tongue loudly, which had initially surprised the pink-haired girl for a second. "Bo-ring!"

"Wait, what about a maid cafe?" Chouji bellowed in joy.

"Totally overdone as well!" Hinata rolled her eyes in dismay.

At this, Chouji frowned, sending the Byakugan user a glare. "Well then, you come up with something!"

Sakura nearly felt herself sweatdrop, maintaining a nervous smile as she tried her best to keep up with their conversation. All of this was still quite alien to her, and she was sure amidst of his little cool-guy facade that Sasuke must be pretty confused as well.

"Alright." Hinata smirked, slamming a hand down at the table, making the pink-haired girl flinch back in shock once more. She wasn't sure if she could ever get used to Hinata like this.

The audience watched as an evil shadow casted itself over Hinata's eyes before she made her announcement of a suggestion. "A _ninja_ cafe."

Almost instantaneously, Sasuke and Sakura nearly spat their food right out of their mouths. The pink-haired girl let out a few coughs, Ino tapping her back for relief and offering her water as she cleared the rest of her throat.

"Wait, that sounds pretty cool." Shikamaru's eyes grew bigger in excitement.

At his approval, Hinata nodded her head, leaning in closer to the group with a grin. "Yeah, just picture this: the guests will come in, appalled by a world filled with weapons and ninjutsu. Instead of high school students, we're a room filled with prodigies that forsake our lives for the safety of our villages. We'll have costumes made tailored to each 'clan', and some of us will have special abilities unique to their own kind. Teleportation. Ice. Manipulation of time and space. _Visual-jutsu's that cast deep, ominous illusions that pry into your soul and eat you from the inside as you slowly accept your death..._ "

When she finished, she realized that her audience had inched themselves closer in anticipation, eyes taken in shock at the idea. Flashing a last smirk, she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat dismissively. "-Like that. What do you think?"

A series of praise subsequently rang about, all seemingly in favour of Hinata's suggestion. Sakura felt like she had been turned to stone, and when she looked ahead at the Uchiha, it was as if a dark shadow had been cast over his face- a foul aura around him that seemed to be undetectable towards the humans.

"What do you think, Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl broke herself out of her shock, becoming aware of the fact that they were seeking the approval of the class president.

"Ah.." She began with a slow chuckle. "It sounds alright."

"It's settled, then! A Ninja Cafe!" Shikamaru raised a hand in the air in triumph. That was also something she could never get used to. "I can't wait. We're gonna have to practice our best stances for this."

The group watched as the human shadow-user stood from his seat, spreading his legs apart and raising a fist forward with his other hand elbowed to the side. At this, Sakura tried her best to maintain a genuine smile. _Sure, but that form is kinda..._

As the rest of the group began to comment on his unwarranted jest, Sasuke quietly chewed on his bun- Katsuya showing the same disinterest. At this, the pink-haired girl sighed in defeat.

Yeah, something told her that things were going to be a long ride before they managed to get back to the Shinobi world.


	7. Part VII: Please Hire Me!

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke and Sakura become acquainted with a group of new but old friends as they sit together for lunch. The group questions them where they're from; but it seems like the two of them don't have a solid story for themselves yet. However, it's been decided that the theme they'll be going with for the welcome festival is a ninja cafe. Slowly but surely, they were moving along in this strange but exciting world.

 **A/N:** This chapter was quite fun to do, even though it's a little longer than usual :'D I had a few giggles while writing this. Fun fact: Katsuya is actually a cat-spirit (bakeneko) yokai OC of mine, except I'm not sure why I decided for his eyes to be blue here instead of golden-colored, like it is. Another girl that appears in this chapter is a Kitsune of mine as well. If you creep my dA: kawaa-kari, you'll be able to find some art I did of them if you're interested in seeing what they look like (or not, if it ruins your current mental image).

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part VII: Please Hire Me!

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 _Note to self:_

Tokyo girls in high school washrooms move very, _very_ slowly.

The girl with the viridian-eyes followed the group of females ahead of her in annoyance as they seemed to enjoy taking their sweet time to exit the packed ladies washroom of the school. Did everybody just decide to go to the washroom once the day was done?

As she observed them from behind, part of her felt like slapping them in the back of their heads while they giggled in loud voices that only seemed to irritate her further.

When they finally moved further, Sakura's thoughts decided to roam elsewhere. The second note to herself was the fact that high schoolers didn't need to do any work at all during school hours. According to Ino, this was false- apparently it was only because it was the first day of school so things were in introduction mode. She actually laughed a little bit at her for not knowing this.

As she reminisced through the day, she realized time went by a lot faster than it felt. It was only the first day of their venture and they had already made acquaintances with people, which was a good start.

When the group of senior girls finally moved out of her way, Sakura shoved through the rest of her path out of the chaotic group and into the clear hallway. Taking a long sigh of relief, her eyes wandered to the clock on the far wall, realizing that it was only 3:00pm. It was still relatively early. Tokyo schools were strange that way. People actually bothered to show up, confined inside a building for more than 6 hours a day. No missions or anything. _Oh, if a Shinobi led this life back in Konoha..._

She hadn't seen Sasuke ever since their class had been dismissed for the day. She didn't even see him leave the room, but that was probably because Shikamaru was too busy drabbling in front of her face for a solid 10 minutes before she could actually leave. Another note to self: tell Konoha Shikamaru that his alter ego was a lot more troublesome than anybody would imagine.

Shaking her head, Sakura clenched her fists in front of her chest, wearing a new determined expression. _Whatever, who cares about Sasuke-kun right now. Let's go job searching, shannaro!_

Moments later, the pink-haired girl found herself once again on the busy streets of Tokyo. She lifted a hand to shield the top of her forehead as she peered past the blinding sun into the clear, blue sky. Not a single cloud was in sight. From the street noises around her and the sounds of strange vehicles whirring, it was exactly like the moment she first arrived here. From this, she concluded that the city must've always been this lively. Now, where was she supposed to find somewhere to-

As she flickered her gaze back down, her eyes shined at a row of what seemed like retailers that lined up on the side of the road. She watched as customers walked in and out of the tiny stores, some coming back out with large decorative bags. There was bound to be a place there that would need her help!

Without further hesitation, the pink-haired girl jogged herself to the crosswalk, where a group of people seemed to be lining up to move. She found herself a bit confused by this, so instead of going on ahead, she eyed the individuals in front of her and waited for them to walk first. When they did, she took it as her cue to follow.

When she made it to the other side of the road, her eyes scanned the stores from left to right. All she had to do was choose one from here on out, right?

Narrowing her eyes at her options, the pink-haired girl paused as she felt a grin creep onto her face at the sight of a colorful store near the far right side. Her feet eventually brought herself closer enough to read the title.

"10/10 Apparel." She said aloud, noting the materials inside the store. It seemed like an assortment of bright colors in strange, frilly designs, but no doubt it was a clothing store. The mannequin sitting in the front showed off a long, neon green dress that had sheer, puffy sleeves and red sequins in the bottom of the fabric that created a gradient towards the top. The inside of the store was white and creamy, with rose-patterned wallpaper and square tiles.

 _Strange stuff._ Well, as long as she didn't have to wear that.

As her attention darted towards a sheet plastered on top of the glass door, she walked closer to take a look.

 **NOW HIRING PART-TIME EMPLOYEES!**

New concept store. Fun, energetic, fashion-loving individuals needed.

Before she knew it, she exerted a single pull of the door and was inside. When she entered the store, she realized it was actually a lot smaller than it looked on the outside. The only thing that got a lot bigger was the amount of strange stuff.

As she took sight of a counter at the far back, she noted a feminine body crouched down with only the small of her back showing. That must've been the owner.

Putting on her best, confident smile, Sakura walked towards the lady. When she approached the counter, she cleared her throat to signal her presence. "Excuse me, my name is Haruno Sakura and I'm a high school student at Tokyo Gakuen. I'm looking for a part-time job, if you would be so kind as to hire me."

When the lady paused from shuffling a few boxes below, she stood up to face her new customer with a wide, unnatural smile on her face. However, this only made Sakura cringe- not the smile, well...actually, that too. Suddenly, the store name made too much sense.

" _Tenten!?_ " Sakura bellowed, eyes becoming huge. Why is she even still surprised at these occurrences anymore?

The girl with the two asian buns in her hair loosened her forced smile, instead adopting a high-and-mighty grin. "It seems my name has really gotten out there. Welcome to my wonderful concept store!"

 _Yeah.. okay._ Sakura narrowed her eyes in disbelief. Instead of her usual asian attire, she wore a strange deep blue dress that had foam fish sewed on it in weird patterns, complimented by... was that a fishnet shawl?

"A job, you wanted?" Tenten broke Sakura's train of thought as she walked out from the counter, eyeing the pink-haired girl up and down and carefully scanning her current outfit. After a few moments of awkward silence, Sakura opened her mouth to speak again, if she weren't interrupted by the Konoha weapon fanatic.

"I don't know. Your fashion sense is a little kinky."

The pink-haired girl felt a nerve struck in her forehead while Tenten shook her head in disappointment. "This is my uniform." Sakura explained through gritted teeth.

"Oh. Well is that so?" Tenten's expression of discontent soon turned mischievous, "Sorry, I only keep up with the latest fashion designs in VOGUE. In that case, what kind of stuff do you usually wear, besides this measly thing?"

At this, Sakura found herself becoming speechless. She thought about her red Shinobi uniform in Konoha, the one she wore everyday casually and during missions. Um.. there really wasn't much other than that since her lifestyle back at home varied lot compared to.. this.

Weighing her chances with that in mind, she decided it'd be more annoying to have Tenten go into a rant about how unfashionable she was. When she turned her back on the girl with the buns, the shop owner looked confused.

"Nevermind. Forget that I came here."

As the pink-haired girl exited the store with a single ring of the door chime, she paused outside of the entrance for a second in her thoughts. Her head started to hurt as she thought about the fact that her and Sasuke probably had to pay a lot of instalments for the rent of that apartment. _And I already failed at my first attempt._

As Sakura glanced to her left, she noted the other stores lined up beside this one, some of them being furniture retailers and others also selling clothing. At least she had a lot options. That's right, there was no time for sulking.

As she took a few steps forward, she grimaced at the overall view of Tenten's store.

"3/10. At least the walls were cute."

* * *

On the opposite end of the street, the Uchiha paced himself down a crowded walkway filled with merciless people that pushed and shoved their way through the sea of bodies. He tried not to bat an eye at the amount of individuals that accidentally bumped into him, but it was a lot harder than he'd thought.

Instead, he tried to keep an eye out on any shops that would be suitable for him to work at. He would've waited for Sakura after school so that they could go together, except she seemed to be busying herself with the 'new' people they had met today. That and he didn't exactly feel like dealing with her right this moment. The more he thought about it- the more he couldn't make sense of it, this whole occurrence.

Why him and Sakura, of all people? Why not Naruto, the person he'd be fighting right now if it weren't for this? Hell, why not Shikamaru even, someone who's completely irrelevant to him?

Was it really just an uncanny anomaly of time?

.. What purpose does it serve for the two of them to be here?

Suddenly, Sasuke paused in his tracks, freezing in thought. He tuned out of the crowd in his surroundings, letting himself be the only human frozen in place of the busy street as bodies continued to swerve around him.

If anything, was it because he, towards Sakura-

Before he had the chance to ponder this thought further, the Uchiha felt all of his senses heighten immediately as a large hand placed itself on his left shoulder. In a swift twist of his body, he jumped back a few steps, landing in a defensive stance at-

A giant chicken. Wearing a red vest.

"S-Sorry to surprise you, sir!" The large white chicken also jumped back a step, startled by Sasuke's strange reaction.

 _A person trapped inside of the chicken?_ The raven-haired man narrowed his eyes, taking a single step further as he analyzed his new encounter, forcing a little gasp from the chicken and another step back with its large red shoes.

"I'm sorry! Here you go!" Sasuke watched as the animal shot a sheet of paper in front of him, letting it go before he even had the chance to take it. "Hope you drop by, haveaniceday-"

After rushing their speech, the chicken dashed in the other direction. Sasuke's attention darted towards the paper, which he managed to reach and grasp with his hand before it came into contact with the ground.

Upon reading its contents, he realized it was an advertisement of some sort. Three big letters decorated the front, and he read them aloud.

"K..FC?"

Raising an eyebrow, he looked up in the direction of where the large chicken ran. He noticed a tiny little store with a red banner hanging on top, an image of an old man with white hair wearing an annoying smile peering back at him. Also, more big white chickens on that side. Out of curiosity, he decided to go up and take a closer look.

Without rushing, he walked up to the store in a completely nonchalant manner, taking a peek inside the small area.

He noticed the backs of two workers on the far inside, pushing buttons on large machines behind them and taking orders of fried chicken into a bag, with several of them neatly lined up from behind. Several tables were scattered in the restaurant, most of in which were occupied by customers.

No doubt, it was a fried chicken store of some sort. Judging from the giant line in the front, business seemed to be very good. If he could land a job like this-

Suddenly, he remembered the giant chickens standing nearby the store, turning his head back to stare at one sourly as it bounced around and handed out fliers. _But if I have to do something like that.._ Surely, the Uchiha name was not made for a job like this.

In that case, nevermind. As he closed his eyes and turned himself around to leave, he found himself pausing at the sound of two people speaking- one yelling, actually, from the alleyway next to the shop.

"What do you mean you're quitting!?"

"Suna-san. I'm afraid I realized my love does not lie with selling fried chicken. Instead.. I wish to pursue a future studying the beauty of insects."

Finding himself unnecessarily intrigued by their conversation, the Uchiha scooted himself closer to the two, hiding behind the corner of the alleyway entrance. He shifted an eye outwards to notice a girl with long caramel-brown hair arguing with a boy.

"HAH!?" The lady bellowed, placing her hands on her hips. "Look- I don't care about what you really love, you can do whatever you want, but we need you for your shift today no matter what. The summer special just started and I can't have you quitting like this on me!"

The male shifts his dark glasses upwards, furrowing his eyebrows. " _No._ I'm sorry."

As the boy then shoved his way behind the girl, Sasuke ducks his head from their view. When his footsteps approached closer and closer, he watched as the male figure walked past him, completely unphased over the conversation with the woman.

Suddenly, the Uchiha narrowed his eyes, realizing that this was another person he knew. _Shino?_

As he watched the bug-user disappear from his sight, he fixed his gaze back on the girl in the alleyway, who now seemed to be in great distress as she proceeded to mutter a series of curses.

A new thought then ran through his mind. If somebody got fired just now, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to offer himself up? After all, him and Sakura still needed to find dinner tonight. A perfect chance like this probably wouldn't come up again.

It should be okay. After all, in this world.. it's not like the Uchiha name really held any meaning.

As the woman prepared herself to leave the alleyway, her stride came to a halt once her gaze fell upon the raven-haired boy, who revealed himself from his hiding.

She noted the sharpness in his eyes, though it wasn't long before he cut to the chase. "Hire me."

"And who are you?" She asks sternly. At this, Sasuke smirks.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I'm here to look for a job. I saw what happened just now, and it looks like you need help as well."

The lady raises an eyebrow, confused at the stranger's sudden assertiveness. _What's with that high and mighty tone? So eager to work at a fried chicken store..._ She takes a few steps closer to the boy, eyeing him up and down. _A high schooler?_ She observes. _He isn't too bad looking, pretty good at that. It's a nice feature to have, and Shino did just quit on me.._

After searching her face for a response, the woman sighed and started walking again, raising a hand for him to follow. He took the gesture as a yes.

In the next moment, Sasuke found himself going through a backdoor of the alleyway, one that seemed to connect to the inside of the store.

"I'm Suna, by the way. I manage things around here."

"Aa." The Uchiha signified his acknowledgement as he followed her from behind, navigating their way through the storage room of the restaurant. Crates of boxes were stacked up high all the way to the ceiling with large containers scattered messily on the other side.

When she opened another doorway, the noise from the kitchen spilled out into the silence, new sounds of metal clanging and loud voices yelling about in the air. A bunch of people ran and scurried about, grabbing pieces of newly fried chicken into a little basket and packaging it into small boxes.

"Right now, we have a new summer special going on. That's why we're extra busy today, not to mention the fact that we're short on people. You like KFC?"

Taken aback by this question, Sasuke decided to go with a safe answer, even though this was the first time in his life that he's ever seen a place like this. "It's good."

"Good. Familiarity is good." Suna turned around suddenly, stopping him in his tracks and flashing a smile. "Let me grab someone to train you. _Gaara-kun, can I borrow you for a second?_ "

At this, Sasuke froze when she turned around to call a very familiar name from behind the tall metal counter. When a red haired boy appeared from the front cashier area, Sasuke nearly felt sick to his stomach.

"Ah! Who's this, Suna-chan? Where's Shino?" The Kazekage doppleganger widened his dark eyes at the sight of the new member, his face giving off way too much expression than Sasuke had last remembered.

Suna scoffed at the mention of the bug-users name. "He's the new Shino. Sasuke Uchiha is his name."

"Ahh? Shino-san left already?"

The manager sent the sand-user a glare, silencing him in an instant. "Nevertheless, this is your new friend from now on. Show him the ropes, and make it quick for now. We don't have time to do comprehensive training for the day. Get him to do what he can."

"Yes, mam!"

Sasuke watched as the girl with caramel hair disappeared into the back storage, coming back out in a few seconds with a bright red shirt marking the uniform of store.

"Put it on and get to work." She said, throwing it in the air as he caught it with ease. After watching her disappear into the tiny office area beside the storage, his gaze traveled back to the human Kazekage in front of him.

He studied his appearance carefully- only to conclude that it indeed was the sand-user from the wind village. He was a small person, though only a little bit shorter than he was, and he still had the "love" character printed on the side of his temple. Ah, still no eyebr-

"I'm Gaara!" The red-haired boy grinned, raising a hand to salute towards the Uchiha with a cringe-worthy shine in his eyes. _Definitely creepy. Doesn't suit people like him at all._ "Like Suna-chan said, we're in rush hour at the moment so I won't be able to tell you everything you need to know right now. For now, how about you just help me give out the orders?"

It sounded fair enough. After shuffling his blazer off of his shoulders and pulling the uniform on top of his dress shirt, Gaara proceeded to spend the next few minutes explaining to him how to package the orders with the help of order lists on the side. For a split second, Sasuke wondered if this was going to be okay. _What the hell are popcorn nuggets?_

As the red-haired boy stepped aside to help with the cashier, Sasuke began to put together the first order. Luckily, this person had only wanted a bucket of drumsticks.

When he finished, he placed the bucket on the counter along with the customer slip, and it wasn't until he looked down that he noticed a little boy peering up at him from the counter.

"I-Is that mine?" The boy with a tiny scruff of hair pointed at the bucket, eyes wide.

 _It's a kid._ Sasuke thought, looking down at the unattended boy with narrowed eyes. In that case...

"Where are your parents?"

The little boy flinched, letting out a little squeal at the sudden fierce expression of the Uchiha. In his tiny eyes, it almost seemed as if a huge dark aura had overtaken him as he continued his glare that could probably cause the death of a village.

"I'm sorry little guy, is this grumpy big brother scaring you? How about you take your bucket to mommy and daddy waiting for you?" The Uchiha glanced at Gaara, who had leaned over to give a little peek at the situation. He sent his most sincere wide-grinned smile, one that made the little boy giggle as he then took the bucket in his hands and scurried off towards two adults on the side.

 _Disgusting._ The Uchiha thought, nearly feeling himself throw up a little in his mouth at the Kazekage, who acted totally out of his character. Instead, the red-haired boy sent him an unpleased expression.

"Hey. Why did your face look so constipated back there? You'll scare away all the customers!"

At this, Sasuke gave a little grunt. Instead of making an effort to retort back, he turned himself away to work on the next order. Gaara watched closely for a second, then sighed in defeat.

"Alright. I guess we'll work on that later."

* * *

 **8:45pm.**

The pink-haired girl stared at the pitch-black sky from her spot at the couch, her head hanging upside down from the arm rest as she let out a sigh. She felt mentally and physically worn out from everything that had happened today. On top of that, she hadn't any luck in finding a job at all.

Also, it was already 8:45pm, and Sasuke-kun hadn't arrived at home yet. For the past few hours, her mind came up with an endless amount of possibilities as to why that was.

Maybe he really did get tired of her and decided that it was best he stayed elsewhere. Maybe he found a way back to the Shinobi world already. Maybe he got kidnapped.

Anything was possible, considering-

Suddenly, she flinched at a click of the door, pulling her body back up so that she faced the doorway. _It's Sasuke-kun!_ Instead of bouncing herself off of the couch, she paused, half annoyed at her immediate reaction. _Am I a dog or something?_

While pondering her unnecessary attention, she realized things were still a bit awkward between the two of them after their little bicker. She completely told him off during that conversation and she didn't know what to say to him after that. Aside from the group lunch today, they hadn't conversed much at all. Maybe he was still mad.

With these matters in mind, she quickly plopped herself back down on the couch, closing her eyes.

Despite so, the familiar sour face entered through the doorway, immediately noticing the pink-haired girl's immovable body on the couch. After what happened today, she still had the nerve to put on annoying facades.

"You're still awake." She hears him say, more like a fact rather than a question. Exposed, she gave a little pout as she slowly moved herself back up.

As she was about to make a witty comment in response, she noticed the Uchiha placing a bag onto the countertop of the kitchen, settling it down along with a brown envelope. "That's..."

"It's dinner." Sasuke explained cooly, "I already ate. Also, this is our money."

Sakura scrambled herself to her knees on the couch, placing a hand on the backrest as she propped her body up from her legs. She continued to eye the unfamiliar contents on the counter, until her eyes became wide in horror. Immediately forgetting the fact that they had fought, she went on in a drabble.

"Sasuke-kun, did you steal those!? Stealing is wrong! We're in a human's world and it's a huge crime to steal! Did Orochimaru teach you that? God, even in Konoha-"

The Uchiha furrows his brows, though his voice didn't seem to be as irritated as his expression suggested. "You're noisy. I didn't steal it, I worked for it."

At this, Sakura felt her mouth drop open. "You found a job? Where?"

Sasuke pursed his lips, suddenly aware of the fact that perhaps he wouldn't tell her this very moment that he was now selling fried chicken with Gaara. Knowing Sakura, she could go on forever about that, and he was already quite tired. "A restaurant."

"I see.. well, congratulations." The pink-haired girl drowned out, eyes becoming hooded in thought.

She was glad that he managed to find a job here. She expected no less from Sasuke-kun. After all, he did prefer to do things alone from the very beginning. He made that very clear from the start. Because of this, she couldn't help but be reminded of her own failure. Again.

At this rate, maybe it was better after all that they did things separately like this.

His eyes flickered towards her droopy face, noticing how quiet she turned all of a sudden. "What is it?"

"I tried looking for a job after school today, too." She said cooly.

Sasuke continued to observe her downcast expression, not a hint of joy present. As much as he wouldn't like to remember these things, he couldn't erase the fact that over the course of their companionship, he became an expert at analyzing her behaviours. That's why, right now, he couldn't help but think she was as easy to read as ever. Didn't something like this happen when they first got here, too?

However, when he really thought about it, part of the reason why she was feeling so discouraged with herself was probably because of him. He had a feeling that if she were here alone, she would've gone by fine. Also, if he hadn't made such a big deal about her becoming the president, the two of them probably would've been able to go job-searching together.

As partners.

 _Comrades..._

"You'll find one."

Sakura widened her eyes, lifting her gaze up at the raven-haired boy who turned around so that she couldn't see his face. He leaned himself against the counter, right behind the bag of food and money.

Again, he continued, placing a hand on the back of his neck in a stretch. "From what I know, you're a smart person, aren't you?"

The pink-haired girl took a moment to register his words. "Well, I guess so." she replied in a quiet voice, feeling her face becoming hot. _What's with him?_

A following silence commenced in the air as she got up from the couch, slowly walking over towards the counter where he stood. Without turning around, he knew from the sounds of the bag ruffling that she opted to start on her meal.

Even though neither of them spoke for the rest of the night, the silence was more than comforting.


	8. Part VIII: Two of a Kind

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke and Sakura roam the streets of Tokyo in efforts to look for a part-time job while they reside in the city. As expected, the Uchiha had no problem finding himself something.. even if it was at KFC. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't have any luck at the AU Tenten's strange clothing store, but it looks like she hasn't given up yet.

 **A/N:** Another new chapter filled with school shenanigans. I apologize again for the slow update, this part kind of had me at a giant roadblock. I'm actually sick at the moment, so I have more free time as I lay in bed doing nothing...

That being said, this is actually more of a buildup chapter for later on, so I apologize if its a bit dull, but I still tried to make it as interesting as possible while the two of them continue to explore the mundane human world...

Enjoy!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part VIII: Two of a Kind

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* * *

A cold gust of wind blew across the barren lands of stone and dirt, creating the tiniest dust storm as an ominous silence dwelled in the dampened air. A following breeze blew past once more, generously this time, ruffling the black and orange jacket into its embrace.

"What exactly happened?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, his tone obviously impatient. "Sakura-chan and Sasuke have been M.I.A for almost an hour already! There's no point in just waiting around like this, ya know!?"

"I don't know whats going on, either. But.." Kakashi pulled himself up to his feet despite the strain from his body as he strode towards the far side of where the ninjas were sent falling. He bent down to scan the cracked earth from below, taking his time in carefully observing the anomaly until his eyes widened with surprise.

"What is it?" Naruto darted over towards his sensei, wary of his sudden change of expression.

"As I thought. The ground.." The Jounin gulped, "I can see the ground completely from this side."

"What?" The Uzumaki inched closer to the silver-haired man's side, peering down below at the shared sight. Indeed, as his blue eyes observed the ravine, the deep darkness from when Sasuke and Sakura had been pulled in was now undetectable, but instead he could clearly see plain dirt with few shrubs growing on the sides.

"Do you think it has something to do with Kaguya?" The blonde narrowed his eyes, "Maybe there's still a remnant of her somewhere here. After all, she's capable of doing all that dimension stuff, ya know?"

"It's possible, but we don't know for sure. No doubt, whatever it is, the two of them are probably within the same place right now." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the cracks that took their teammates. "It'd be wise if they decided to stick together until they find a way out."

"Who knows what kind of place they've been sent to.." Naruto pulled his gaze away from his sensei, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth in growing anger.

"That _teme_... goes and says something completely bull and on top of that, trying to hurt Sakura-chan, too.. he better be watching out for her there, _dammit!_ "

* * *

"Sasuke-kun! Could you not have waited outside the apartment for me!?"

The Uchiha paid little to no attention towards the viridian-eyed girl who had finally caught up to him in the hallway the following morning. He kept his head straight, but as soon as he registered a pink-haired blob on his right, his eyes darted to the side to acknowledge her presence.

"Do we have to leave at the same time?" He said cooly, closing his eyes after a few seconds. "Something like that would just raise suspicion."

At this, Sakura managed a tiny pout on her face. _And here I thought we might've had a chance at getting along..._ Her mind wandered to his words last night, subtle but no doubt with intent on encouragement.

She couldn't help but feel lost that way; did he really care about her or did he not? Are these tiny glimpses of affection just part of her silly, self-deduced imagination? Questions like these are what she had been pondering ever since he saved her on the first day.

Rolling her gaze to his side as well, she took a glance at his serene morning expression, but couldn't find a trace of an answer. _What are you really thinking?_

Sensing no words of retort, the Uchiha peered an eye back open to look at his companion. At this, the pink-haired girl quickly retracted her gaze.

However, he seemed to be more interested in something tucked underneath her left arm. "What is that?"

"Ah," Sakura smiled, releasing the folded paper from her arm and holding it out for the both of them to see. "It's a newspaper. I saw it in the lobby on the way here.. I thought I could try looking at job postings so I can check places out after school. After all, I can't just let myself fall behind you."

She turned her head towards him, flashing a closed-eye grin. "So go home first today, okay?"

At this, the Uchiha noted the unwavering expression of the pink-haired girl before she tucked the paper back into her arm. For a split second, he swore he saw a look of fire in her eyes that he hadn't seen in the past. That determination, it suited her well.

So this is the kind of person she's become..

He let a smirk show on his face. "I wasn't going to wait for you. I have work."

The pink-haired girl frowned at his response. However, just as she was about to provide a retort, a series of chatter and giggles started to ring about in the hallway. It wasn't until she had taken a clear look that she noticed groups of female students gathering on the sides around them, stealing lovestruck glances at what seemed to be the raven-haired boy beside her.

"The new guy in class 3-A is so handsome!"

"Do you think it's too late to get a class transfer!?"

 _As expected, Sasuke-kun is even popular in places like this,_ she cringed at the loud whispers of girly voices. To think she used to be one of those with superficial minds.. _Don't be fooled, ladies, I'm living proof of the fact that you can't win with this guy._

"Sasuke-kun~!"

As she finished her last thought, the high-pitched voice of a certain female grabbed their attention. At once, a girl with blazing red hair with matching glasses began prancing down the hallway towards them, a hand waving viciously in the air as she stopped in front of the pair.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" The girl shrieked hysterically at the Uchiha, brushing her hair back in a feminine manner so that it didn't fall onto her front. Sasuke stared at her for a few seconds with an expression of growing disinterest on his face. At this, Sakura smirked. _There's no way-_

"Karin."

 _-he would greet her!?_ Sakura's eyes turned wide in shock, quickly darting her gaze at the raven-haired boy, then back at the stranger. _Come to think of it.. this girl, isn't she..._

 _Ah!_ The pink-haired girl gleamed in realization, eyeing the student who now stood herself on the other side of the Uchiha. _I recognize her._ _It's Sasuke-kun's other teammate, the one he knocked out in the Land of Iron.. don't tell me she has thing going on for him, too?_

"It's good to see you again, Sasuke-kun!" Karin swooned. The Uchiha failed to provide a likewise response, but instead gave a tiny grunt.

"Did you manage to get the bread to that friend of yours the other day?" At this, Sakura's attention perked. Similarly, Sasuke felt himself growing more alert with a new sense of urgency present in his stomach. As the red-haired girl leaned forward and flickered her gaze towards the pink-haired girl, her eyes grew wide at the connection. "Ah, could she be-"

Immediately, a large hand flew onto the red-haired girls' mouth, silencing her from further speech. The action surprised both girls as Karin's face turned an immodest shade of red while Sakura twitched an eye.

"You talk too much." The Uchiha subsequently muttered, releasing his hand as quick as he had placed it. After that, Karin kept her mouth closed in silence.

On the other hand, _Bread?_ Sakura pondered with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly, she recalled the second piece of melon bread Sasuke had brought to class on the first day when they had a disagreement. _Don't tell me.._

"Let's go, Sakura. We're late."

The pink-haired girl watched as he began to walk forward again, away from the two of them and the crowds surrounding their vicinity. Without another glance back at Karin, Sakura gave a tiny nod and followed.

As the two of them approached their class, their feet came to a stop at the sight of an empty classroom, with not even Kakashi in sight.

"Where did everyone go?" Sakura tilted her head to the side. Similarly, the Uchiha furrowed his brows at the unoccupied space.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun?"

The pink-haired girl turned around, relieved to see Ino standing behind them with a worried look on her face. "Ino!" Sakura greeted, about to ask where everybody was. However, her eyes wandered down as she scanned the blonde's clothing. Instead of their usual uniform, she was wearing a plain white T-shirt with a dark blue lining on the sleeves and collar, in addition to matching shorts that were loose mid-thigh.

Likewise, Ino also scanned the two of them up and down. "Y-You two should get changed soon.. we have P.E first thing."

At this, the Uchiha and viridian-eyed girl exchange curious glances at eachother.

 _P.E?_

* * *

 _But is it really practical to change clothes in the middle of school?_

Sakura pondered this as she exited the girls change room subsequent to Ino's insistence, switching her uniform for the same outfit that the blonde and the rest of the class were wearing. _And such a thin shirt, at that.._ the pink-haired girl looked down at her chest, feeling her cheeks tinge a tiny shade of red. _What the hell, it can be easily seen through!_

Meanwhile, Sakura noted Hinata, who stood nearby being swarmed by a body of male students. She didn't seem to mind at all. Like the males, the pink-haired girl was fairly interested in what what going on with the Byakugan-users' body parts.

 _What are those on her chest, melons!?_ Sakura's mouth hung open in both shock and admiration at Hinata's scandalous figure. She watched from the side as she tossed her hair in a flirty manner, clearly revelling in the fact that she was the center of attention. _Well, even in Konoha, her boobs were pretty big.._

Putting the fact aside, Sakura then took a moment to scan her new surroundings. The gymnasium they were in was huge! And so shiny!

 _Good for training sessions._ She concluded, observing the groups of students that had begun running laps around the gymnasium. _In that case, there's no way I can fall behind here!_

Meanwhile, as the pink-haired girl had begun her run, the Uchiha had just exited the change room himself, a thoroughly displeased look on his face at the idea of changing his clothes into something unnecessary. That, and also the fact that a good handful of female students were still eyeing him with annoying smiles on their faces.

"Yo! Sasuke!" The Uchiha darted his gaze to the voice that had called out to him, eyeing the shadow-manipulator that approached him with a casual grin. "You sure seem to be a hot commodity here!."

At this, the raven-haired man responded with a tiny grunt, paying no more attention to this topic.

"But aside from you, Sakura-chan sure looks great too, doesn't she? Do you think she works out to get that body of hers?"

Upon the mention of his companion, the Uchiha flickered his eyes towards the pink-haired girl, who expertly weaved through rows of students running in laps, earning looks of admiration for her own. He didn't really have anything to say about that. "Like I'd know."

"Eh? But you two always seem so well-acquainted." Shikamaru raised a finger to his chin inquisitively. After a few seconds, his eyes grew wide in realization as he pointed towards the nonchalant Uchiha. "C-Could it be that you don't wish to reveal any information about her in hopes of keeping her to yourself!? Is that the extent to which your loves grows for her!?"

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke grinned in an irritated manner.

"Aha, in that case, maybe I'll be able to snatch her one day!" The shadow-user revelled, scratching the back of his head at the thought of his own words, "If that happens, don't hold me back, Sasuke!"

At this, the Uchiha nearly scoffed, shoving his hands in the pocket of his dark blue shorts and started in the other direction. "Do what you want."

The silver-haired boy flickered his gaze towards the Uchiha and the shadow-user standing not too far away, watching as Sasuke casually walked off while the Nara was busy chuckling to himself in an ecstatic manner. At this, Katsuya sighed and looked the other direction, not wanting to bother with the commotion.

Just as he was about to sit himself down until things finally got started, a sharp whistle was blown in the air, grabbing the attention of the students that had paused mid-run as all eyes flew onto their sensei.

"Today," Kakashi announced, flicking a ball from one hand into the palm of his other with ease. "We'll start out with a quick game of basketball."

At this, Sakura paused to observe a small series of groans but also a few cheers from her classmates, though she continued to raise an eyebrow at the unfamiliar situation. As the crowd of students began making their way towards their sensei, she glanced over at the Uchiha whose expression told the same thing.

 _Basket-ball?_ She pondered, though looking straight ahead with eyes that narrowed in seriousness. _Right. In that case, we can't let our guards down. If it's a game of any kind, we have to play it to the best of our ability while we're here!_

That being said...

"What's basketball?" The pink-haired girl leaned her head to the side, still maintaining her gaze on their sensei while Hinata, who stood beside her, gave her an almost disgusted look.

"Hah!?" The Byakugan princess shot her new friend another expression of disbelief, "Don't tell me you town-folk don't even know what basketball is!"

"Ahah.." Sakura let out a nervous giggle, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"It can't be helped, then." Hinata let out a large sigh, almost as if she were annoyed, though she didn't seem to be too bothered for being the one to explain it. As she began to speak, the Uchiha perked his ears to overhear their conversation despite being a few bodies away.

"See that crap-colored ball Kakashi-sensei is holding?" Sakura's eyes traveled along Hinata's finger, which lead to the round object in their teacher's hand. It was a normal-looking ball with black lines, and it didn't look like it had a smooth surface.

"We'll be placed into two teams of five from here on out, split by the midline of the gym. The objective is to get the ball to the other team's net-" Once again, Hinata's finger darted above towards a white net that hung on their side of the gymnasium. Sakura's eyes made note of a similar one on the opposite end. "You can't kick the ball, by the way. You have to pass it by either- well, _passing it_ , or dribbling. Each basket is worth two points, unless if you make a free-throw then they're each one point. People from the other team are going to try and steal the ball from you. You'll have one person on you all the time. Oh, by the way, if you make a shot outside of the three-point arc, then its worth three points, so its best to-"

At this point, Sakura felt her mind running in circles at the amount of information being thrown at her. _Who knew Hinata could speak so damn fast,_ Sakura blinked. Part of her felt bad for not paying attention to the rest of her explanation, though she seemed to have picked up the gist of things for the time being.

"-Anyway, you'll figure it out easier once it gets started."

As her explanation came to a close, the Uchiha looked away and let his attention fall back onto their sensei, who was now assigning each student a team. However, instead of going on either side of the gym, some of them went over to sit on adjacent benches. _Basketball, huh? Theoretically speaking, getting the ball into the enemies' net isn't a difficult task._ He silently reviewed Hinata's rules. Despite that, methods normal for a Shinobi would definitely be deemed inappropriate in a setting like this.. besides, it was already clear that the two of them didn't have the ability to use chakra.

"Sasuke."

The Uchiha peered up at the silver-haired man, who pointed a finger to the right side of the gym where a few people have already gathered. As he made his way towards his designated area, he made eye contact with Sakura, who had also seemed to take note that they were going to be on the same side along with Hinata, Chouji, and another person he didn't seem to recognize.

A tiny girl with bob-cut hair and large rimmed glasses smiled, waving a hand up at their last member. Sasuke lowered his head in acknowledgement, though he wasn't too interested in irrelevant people. As he darted his gaze towards the other side of the gym, he observed the opponent team to be Shikamaru, Ino, a hefty girl with long brown hair, and Katsuya.

"Which one of you want to do the tip-off?" Chouji asked, earning the attention of his team members.

"Tip off?" Sakura repeated inquisitively.

At this, Hinata placed a hand on her hip and began twirling a tiny lock of her purple-tinged hair. "It's how the game begins. One person from each team will meet at the center and Kakashi-sensei will toss the ball up between the two. You have to try to tip it to your own side to get a good start in the game."

"So, wouldn't Sasuke-san be a good person to do so?" At the mention of his name, all eyes shifted towards the quiet, long-blonde haired girl who let out a little yelp after becoming aware of her sudden assertiveness. "I-I mean, you don't have to! I'm just thinking since he's tall..."

"Alright."

To her astonishment, the pink-haired girl watched as the Uchiha then made his way towards the center after surprisingly accepting the suggestion, nonchalant and seemingly unphased by being chosen for such an unnecessary task. As Sasuke had nearly approached the center line, his eyes met with his opponent who had also began to make way towards the middle.

Personally, he hadn't really minded being the one to start things off, but as soon as he saw Katsuya walking from the other end, he had to think twice. Even though he had only encountered the guy twice, something about him just didn't sit right with him. The impression that he got of him was similar to that of a wolf in sheep's clothing. There was just an aspect of his silent, and too-observant nature that sort of put him on guard. Or maybe he just wasn't used to hanging around normal people.

As the two boys stopped a few steps apart from the center line, dark obsidian orbs met with ocean pearls in both a nonchalant but cautious manner. Their exchange of stares continued on for a few seconds as Sakura observed her teammate from the side, his body language seemingly passive, but alert at the same time.

Now that the two of them were standing face to face, it wasn't difficult to see their differences. The pink-haired noted that they were relatively similar in height, though if you had to say, Katsuya was taller by probably an inch or so- barely noticeable. When they were close together, they looked like contrasting tones of black and white.

Well, not that any of that particularly mattered at the moment. It's both her and Sasuke's first time playing something a game like this, and all they had to do was get the ball through to the other basket, right?

"Ready?" Kakashi held the round, orange-brown ball between the two of them as the boys took on a prepared stance, spreading their legs apart to get ready for their jump.

The Uchiha watched the round object in anticipation as Kakashi lowered it at first before his throw. A flash of a thought sparked through his mind for a mere second before the ball flew up into the air between them, putting everything into what seemed like slow-motion. Even though he was without chakra, the years of basic ninja training would prove worthy in situations like this.

That being said, the instant the ball was about to go down, it was only in a matter of seconds before the Uchiha pounced into the air, using considerable speed and strength to strike the rubber onto the ground behind Katsuya in a harsh manner, who seemed to have trouble processing what had just happened in what seemed like half a second.

Everybody watching seemed to be quite in awe about this, and as Sakura felt the crowd of students getting riled up over the quick possession of the ball, her own feet began to move into a space where she could provide aid to her teammate.

The silver-haired boy didn't continue to wallow in his loss, though. Immediately after realizing the Uchiha's potential, his calm nature broke as he narrowed his eyes and charged himself towards the raven-haired boy who inhumanely began to zigzag himself past several opponents who had attempted to block his path.

 _So fast..!_ Katsuya gritted his teeth, only pushing himself to move quicker.

Even though Sasuke was fast, the silver-haired boy wasn't slow either. As the crowd began to realize this, Katsuya manages to catch up to his opponent as they ran closely side by side, the ocean-eyed boy inching closer to the Uchiha until he managed to get completely in front of him, forcing the raven-haired boy to skid to a stop just as he was near the net. Sasuke, realizing his disadvantage, opted to shuffle his feet backwards with the ball instead of responding to his teammates who had been calling out his name from various directions. It wasn't until a sharp whistle pierced through the air that everybody paused to look at the source.

"Travel!" Kakashi announced across the gymnasium, raising a hand in a passive manner. "You can't walk like that with the ball in your hand, Sasuke. You have to dribble at all times."

At this, Katsuya let out a tiny audible chuckle while sending the Uchiha a brief smirk, one that the raven-haired boy managed to detect from the corner of his eyes. He was quite uncharacteristically irritated after that.

"Opponents ball," Their sensei subsequently called.

 _Sasuke-kun.._ the pink-haired girl watched as the Uchiha emitted a new kind of aura. Uncharacteristic it was, indeed. How unusual for the cool and composed Sasuke-kun to get riled up over something like this. She couldn't tell if she should be happy that he had actually bothered to interact with another human being, even if it wasn't in a warm manner.

In the next second, the ball travelled from Sasuke's grasp into the silver-haired boys' hand, much to the blue-eyed boys' pleasure. As the two teams went back to a ready stance, Sakura couldn't help but feel chills go down her spine at the new tension between the boys, and she was almost positive the rest of their classmates could detect it too.

Hinata let out a giant sigh, almost as if she had expected this. "There always has to be two people like that. Guess they're going to be on eachother for the rest of this game."

 _Really..._ the pink-haired girl blinked once at her teammate before changing her gaze back towards the Uchiha and the silver-haired boy. But before her mind was capable of pondering this further, the starting whistle had shrieked once again.


	9. Part IX: Camaraderie

**Previous Chapter Summary:** The next day at school, Sasuke and Sakura are surprised to enter an empty classroom upon their arrival. It wasn't until Ino came to tell them that the class had gone off to P.E class. Unsure of what that was at first, the two ninjas eventually deduced that the large gymnasium was some sort of training room. The next thing they knew, Kakashi had initiated a basketball game, a new activity neither of them had heard of. Sasuke, especially, had managed to find a formidable opponent in the game..

 **A/N:** How is the story development so far? 8 chapters probably feel shorter for you than it is for me, since I'm the one writing it haha. Managed to get this chapter done a lot faster than I'd thought.

I've noticed on here, but more so my wattpad version of this story that a few people have been commenting on how much of a jerk Sasuke is (oh dear). I'm not retorting that, he is quite the difficult one and I'm glad because thats exactly how I wanted to portray him :D One of the reasons why I chose to write this story was because I wanted to explore the complexity of his personality and how he and Sakura will bond even though he isn't 100% her comrade yet.

That being said, there will probably be many times in the story where he will tend to contradict himself with his emotions, as many of you know our Sasuke-kun is a 0-100 type of guy. Honestly a lot of the times when I'm writing, I'm like "Ok now I have to make up some bs sociopathic line that doesn't even make sense because Sasuke would say it here" LOL.

*Note: On the topic of Sasuke, some ambiguity with his inner thoughts will follow from here on out. I might explain exactly what I'm trying to portray later on, but as for now, I'll leave it up to your thoughts!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part IX: Camaraderie

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* * *

"Sakura, you can't just punch the ball with your fist like that!"

" _Wait a second_ , but how the hell did that manage to get so far?"

The pink-haired girl winced at another sharp whistle from their sensei indicating a foul. Okay, maybe punching the ball with her natural strength wasn't such a good idea. Though she felt annoyed at herself, she tried to ignore the glare Sasuke had just sent her.

Katsuya, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the amount of fouls the two of them had been making for the past 20 minutes of the game. The scores between the two teams weren't too far off; it was pretty close actually- just that the fouls were getting the best of them at times where it had mattered most. Taking advantage of the mental drainage from his opponents, the silver-haired boy smoothly received the ball from a teammate and proceeded to zigzag himself down the court.

Sasuke, of course, had shown up almost immediately at the end to stop him. Letting out an annoyed grunt as he came to a sudden halt, Katsuya held the ball tightly from his hands to prevent any sudden steals. As soon as Sasuke had moved an inch, the silver-haired boy flicked his wrist back and sent the ball going towards behind, where Shikamaru was available to catch.

"Sorry, Sasuke! We're still friends!" The shadow-user bellowed before getting into a shooting position and bending his knees.

As if the Uchiha was going to have that. Before the shadow-user could get in the air for a clean shot, the ball had suddenly been smacked from his hands from behind, a gesture he hadn't expected.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled as she popped her head from behind Shikamaru, grinning at her sneak attack. The Uchiha quickly retrieved the ball that had left the shadow-users grasp, and he made no hesitation to race to the other side of the court. Katsuya followed, though he didn't seem to be quick enough this time as Sasuke leapt into the air and practically smashed the ball into the basket.

A series of cheers bellowed from the benched members. Sakura grinned. _We're caught up to their team now! If we get the last basket.._

"Last basket wins! Time is almost up!" Kakashi announced, and a new tension brew in the air.

At this, the other team moved fast. Sasuke gritted his teeth, ignoring the beads of sweat that rolled uncontrollably down the sides of his face. He was going to get that last shot and win the tie-breaker.

A series of back-and-forth stealing proceeded for some time in efforts to gain the ball completely to one side. At this point, the tensed air between Sasuke and Katsuya had immediately intensified to be probably a hundred times worse than the start of the game.

"Sasuke!" Chouji shot the ball into the air above into a high pass. Sasuke jumped into the air, catching it with the center of his palm before landing back down and darting his way towards the opponent's net.

"20 seconds!" Kakashi yelled, earning another wave of immediate panic from the court members.

The Uchiha, well aware that he had exactly 10 seconds to assure his victory, sped up at a pace faster than before. However, he couldn't shake off the giant surge of irritation upon noticing Katsuya close behind, tailing after him.

"13 seconds!"

He didn't have time to stop to get into shooting position. If he did, Katsuya would have time to steal the ball away and it would be over. That guy was dreadfully good at that. Taking note of this, the Uchiha concluded there was no other way to do it.

He was going to make the shot while in motion so that he wouldn't waste any time. If anything, years of in-motion shuriken target training was going to help him at a time like this.

"6 seconds!"

 _It's the end,_ Sasuke furrowed his eyes as he made one last leap into the air, drawing the ball back with one hand for a hard shot.

"NO! Watch out, Sasuke-kun!"

To his shock, the Uchiha widened his eyes as Katsuya had suddenly appeared alongside of him, well-caught up. That guy was damn fast. Sasuke swore he saw a sly grin as the silver-haired boy took advantage of the Uchiha's unstoppable gravity and swiped the ball from his hands, letting it bounce to the ground before taking it into his own grasp

All of this happened in a mere second, leaving everyone speechless and wide-eyed. Before Sasuke could process it himself, he turned around and saw that Katsuya had 5 seconds to make the shot that would deem his team's victory.

"4 seconds!"

Katsuya dribbled the ball at maximum speed, the most he could muster as he began to approach the center of the court.

"3...!"

He passes half-point of the court, ready for a slam dunk.

"2...!"

He jumps into the air, raising the ball up before getting ready to slam it in the net.

"1...!"

The ending whistle shrieked as the gym fell into an immediate silence, with nothing but the sound of the ball hitting the gym floor and then slowly bouncing until it ceased. After a few seconds, large roars of cheers emerged from one side of the benched area in joy. Katsuya fell to the ground, a large thud as he grit his teeth and reclined his head back and made long, hard pants.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled, turning towards the Uchiha as she tried hard to catch her breath, "We did it, time ran out for them! It's a tie!"

"Who cares about the time," Sasuke started in an irritated manner as he turned himself around, his mood foul.

"He would've made that shot."

* * *

"Do you think those two are alright?"

"I.. I think so? They look fine to me.."

Sakura peered at the doorway where the raven-haired boy stood with a large disposable garbage bag with the most apathetic look she had ever seen. Not that he wasn't usually like that- but ever since the game from this morning, it was more apparent than usual.

Like everybody in the class, she watched the interaction between him and Katsuya carefully as the silver-haired boy sorted papers out to throw into the bag the Uchiha had been holding. The two of them had been paired up for end-of-day cleaning duty, and if you looked at them like this, you would've never guessed that they had basically tried to rip eachothers eyeballs out during the game.

When they seemed to have finished, Sasuke scrunched up the bag and tied the top before making his way out of the class.

"Seriously, though, I think I'm starting to fall in love with those two."

At this, the pink-haired girl nearly dropped the stack of boxes she had been carrying if she hadn't managed to catch herself. She looked over to the side where Hinata gave a long sigh of lust at the door where Sasuke had exited.

"The new, angsty transfer student and the aloof white-haired prince of our class, both clashing with visibly cool auras.." The Byakugan-user revelled, batting her eyelashes multiple times before releasing one more sigh. "What would I do if I were the heroine caught in the middle of that?"

"Tragic... just tragic" Sakura wallowed in play, rolling her eyes at Hyuuga's fantasy. Ino grinned sheepishly on the side without comment.

"Sakura, are you and Sasuke-kun dating?"

The question had once again caught the pink-haired girl off-guard, though this time she really had dropped the boxes in her hand. Ino and Hinata had been quick to help her pick up the contents that had scattered all over the floor, though it was good that they hadn't contained much.

"No, we're not dating" Sakura responded in much delay, trying her best to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Really? I'm surprised. It's not often that a guy and a girl, both from the same area, transfer schools together and not be super close with eachother." The Hyuuga princess claimed, "Are you two childhood friends or something?"

"Ah..." The pink-haired girl paused for a moment as she thought about a proper response. Although she and Sasuke had known eachother for a long time, she wasn't sure if it could count as childhood friends. I mean, he barely noticed her in the academy when they were toddlers. "I guess so? We _have_ known eachother for quite awhile.."

"Seriously? I knew it. There's just no way that you two just happened to meet this year from living near eachother. There's definitely stuff going on with you guys."

"Why's that?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, her curiosity peaking at her friend's thoughts. Something about her was awfully nosy as to what outsiders- particularly normal high schoolers think of their relationship.

"Beats me." Hinata drawled, earning an exhausted look from the pink-haired girl at her underwhelming response. "I don't know, okay, a girl just has a sixth sense. And mine tells me that you and Sasuke are a lot more than what you seem. _Ino, back me up!_ "

"E-Eh?" The girl with the long, blonde ponytail shook her head and waved her arms in front of her before earning an overpowering look from the Hyuuga's light purple eyes. Finally, the mind-user grinned shyly and scratched the back of her head nervously. "W-Well, the thing is.."

Sakura was all ears.

"I don't know-" Ino began with a slight hesitation, as if she weren't sure if this were her story to tell. "On the first day of school, I-I saw Sasuke-san lining up for bread with a girl with red hair.."

 _Oh, it was probably Karin._ Sakura concluded in her head while Hinata let out a long whistle, clearly thinking it was more scandalous than it had seemed.

"I don't think he had money on him, but I think she covered for him..." Ino faded, "But the thing is, after he got his food, I heard him ask the girl to get him another one- said it was for a friend. At that time, I thought it was very kind of him to think of someone like that even though he had no money himself.."

Upon hearing this for the first time, Sakura froze as she finished placing the box in her hands on top of an adjacent desk. Pieces of information began to come together as she recalled herself wondering where he had gotten his lunch on the first day of school.

So he really had been meaning to give that bun to her that day.

"-Although, when he came to sit with us, I was surprised that he gave it to Shikamaru-san." Ino finished, "I had assumed it was for you, seeing as he barely knew him.."

 _Katsuya had already given me something by then._ Sakura thought, pondering this further but trying her best not to let her imagination get too wild on that fact. _On second thought, he probably just didn't want to get annoyed later on if I complained I was hungry. That seems to be more like him._

" _Cuuuuuuuuuute_ " Hinata drowned, "Sakura, you _cannot_ tell me that at least one of you have had feelings for the other. Trust me, I'm an avid shoujo manga reader. Childhood friends always swing that way for one another at some point and it makes everything like, super awkward afterwards."

The two girls stared intently at the new student, eyes wide in dubious curiosity at her response. Sakura blinked once, twice, then opened her mouth to speak.

"Yeah.." She began, at first unsure of what to say. "I've liked him ever since I was little.."

Hinata and Ino gave eachother silly grins, the latter girl blushing at this sudden confession. Sakura thought long and hard at the rest of her response, thoughts roaming in her mind endlessly and uncontrollably. It was as if she were seeing a fast-forwarded slideshow of their entire relationship, from the days where she would silently admire him from afar at the academy to the point on the battlefield where they had fought together, then proceeded to drift away once again until they ended up at a high school classroom in Tokyo.

"To be honest with you guys, I don't really know how to explain Sasuke-kun and I. I guess the best way to put it is that we're both working towards the same goal right now, coming to a city like this and going to this school where we meet new people like you.." Hinata and Ino tuned themselves in further, noting the pink-haired girls' seemingly absent gaze at the desk. "-But I don't know what'll happen after that. To me, it feels like our paths are always diverging yet converging at the most unexpected moments. I'm always watching his back, but what I want is to be walking beside him no matter where we are, even if he can't see me the way I see him.."

A long silence followed after her last words, the three girls not moving an inch as the students around them yelled and banged things around organizing the class.

Hinata flipped her hair back and opted to speak first.

"Girl, Imma be real with you" She started, " _I don't know jack about what you just said_ , but it seems like you've chosen a hell of an annoying person for an unrequited love."

Ino looked away as Hinata said this, though undoubtedly agreeing with her statement. Sakura unhooded her eyes at the Byakugan princess' words, though she gave a tiny reserved grin since she, in all honesty, acknowledged the fact too.

"My advice to you," The Hyuuga started, placing her hands on her hips in assertion, "It doesn't matter what the hell that guy sees of you, even if it's one-sided. Love makes a person go weak, and as a girl, you can't let yourself get trampled on. If you think you're always watching his back, you just gotta place yourself in the front! Keep your head up high and assert that dominance! And well, if that doesn't work out, just remember _men ain't shit_ in the first place!"

Ino, after finishing listening to her friend's advice, furrowed her eyebrows and nodded at Sakura in firm agreement.

For a girl who revels in the attention received from boys, she sure knew how to stand her ground when it came to them. Sakura stood, wide-eyed and in utter shock, then bursted into a reserved laughter.

Somehow, it felt rather refreshing to hear something like that from an outsider. Most especially, a normal human being at that. In the Shinobi world, she didn't talk too much about her feelings regarding Sasuke, not even to Ino. Sasuke was always a topic that nobody had really dared to get her to speak about ever since his leaving.

Just place yourself in the front, eh?

"Thanks, Hinata." She gave the Hyuuga a warm smile before receiving a soft one in return.

"Yo,"

The three of them turned around at the casual male voice, all pairs of eyes staring at the boy who had suddenly appeared behind them.

Katsuya stood, a hand shoved in his pocket as he ruffled the bangs of his soft silver locks. Like this, the boy seemed very serene and calm-natured, totally opposite of what they had seen in the gym.

"Sakura. Kakashi-sensei says you and I have to stay after school to spend some time on planning for the festival."

"Oh, sure." The pink-haired girl responded, "We can meet in here when we're ready, then."

Receiving a nod in return, the boy disappeared from their vicinity and returned to his tasks. Immediately after saying so, Sakura realized she had originally planned to go job-seeking after class. _I guess I'll have to go after we finish.._

When she turned back to her friends, she winced at the silly grins from the two girls as they stole glances at Katsuya's back.

"Come on guys." Sakura sighed, "I'll catch you two later, alright?"

With that, the pink-haired girl waved her friends off and started her way out of the classroom. She recalled that Sasuke had been put on recycling duty, so he must've gone out to the trash area.

When she walked past the disposing place, her viridian eyes searched for the raven-haired boy among the students from other classes who were also throwing trash out. When she didn't see a trace of him, her brows furrowed in curiosity. _Where did he go?_

As she looked up from the large dumpsters, a set of stairs spiralling upwards welcomed her gaze. Taking a look around her, she saw no other direction that led to anywhere besides the door of hallway she had come from. Maybe she would find him up there.

And with that, her feet had started to move once again. As she walked up the tedious staircase, she came to a closed door that had rays of sunshine gleaming out of the small glass from the middle. As she turned the knob and gave it a gentle push, her head peeked itself out a teeny bit from the crack, her eyes narrowing at the shine that welcomed her to the roof of the school.

The Uchiha was seen laying at the ground of the roof, not too far away from the door with his body parallel to the clear sky above. He rested the back of his head on his palms and left a knee propped up from the tiled floor.

Noticing his serene expression, Sakura contemplated whether to approach him or whether she should go back to the classroom- the two of them hadn't made plans to meet afterschool, after all. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have too much thinking time for herself before his voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Do you need something?" He asks in a cool tone, having noticed her presence much earlier on.

Sakura, not in one bit surprised by his quick senses, revealed herself from the doorway and gently walked his way. He hadn't opened his eyes when he spoke to her, though he lifted a one open to acknowledge her presence when she got close.

The pink-haired girl prepared herself to speak, until she realized she didn't know why she came to find him in the first place. Instead, she closed her lips and the two of them maintained silent eye contact for a few seconds.

Thinking back to what she had told Hinata and Ino, she realized when it came to her and Sasuke, everything between them so far was black and white, yes and no. There was still an entire grey area in between their relationship that was unexplored and unprecedented. Over the years, she always thought of him as Sasuke-kun, despite his clear change. Prior to landing in Tokyo, it was more than clear to her that the two of them were in different worlds from the very beginning.

However, after spending some time with him, there was a part of her that doubted so. As pretentious as it may seem, she really did think there was a corner of his heart that still cared for her. She saw it in the way he would talk and act towards her, being in a mix between friendship and foe.

If that was so, she would want to understand him more. Even if everything she felt was far from the truth.

As Sasuke opened his other eye, Sakura had begun to maneuver herself to the ground as well, placing herself beside the Uchiha with a good amount of space between them so that their bodies and heads aligned with one another.

Peering her head to the side to meet Sasuke's gaze, the two of them continued to stare at eachother in a comfortable silence. It looked as if gears were turning madly in both of their heads, despite their calm and peaceful appearance. Neither knew what the other was thinking.

Sakura responded to his eyes in a soft tone.

"So I can see what you're seeing."

Sasuke seemed to ponder her words for a second, though without further comment, he slowly reverted his gaze to the blue sky above. After a slight lag, Sakura did too.

The two of them continued like this for awhile, observing and appreciating the clear view from above and the sound of distant chirps from the birds in their vicinity.

Sasuke seemed to be in a foulder mood, she knew that much at least.

"It was unlike you back in gym class today." She started, and didn't have to look to know that she managed to cause a flinch of his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke grumbled under his breath.

"Here you are, acting all high and mighty ever since we got here," She spoke smoothly, And once someone decides to play your own game of king, your ego responds back feverishly."

"I don't know what you're saying."

"This is why I said you should warm up to people more. Katsuya's not that much of a jerk as he makes himself seem." The pink-haired girl recalled his few moments of kindness towards her. "Actually, I'll have to go job-searching after I work on festival plans with him after dismissal.."

At this, Sasuke turned his head back towards her and gave her a blank look, as if she had said the most absurd thing in the world and urged her to continue.

"...Because..." Sakura slowly tried to continue her sentence, though she had actually finished speaking. "I'm... the class president.. and he's the vice."

Sasuke continued to give her the blank stare, seemingly unsatisfied with the situation. Sakura felt herself get a bit nervous, rolling her eyes to each side uncomfortably, then back to his glance. A moment later, he reverted back to the sky dismissively.

"You shouldn't get too friendly with that person."

"What, scared he's going to steal your cool guy facade?" Sakura grinned playfully, "Or that he's a little better than you at some mundane sport?"

At this, Sasuke crinkled his brows in annoyance. "I'm saying you shouldn't be too trusting of other people in general."

"We're in tokyo dealing with humans, Sasuke, not undercover on some S-rank mission."

"..I don't like that guy."

"Yeah, well I know you don't like a lot of people."

Another brief silence followed her last comment. Sakura couldn't help but smile to herself for a bit. The two of them were actually able to make meaning conversation- it had been awhile since they were able to talk to eachother so calmly like this. She was right. Over time, she felt like they were slowly beginning to warm up to eachother's presence.

 _But what does this mean, and to what extent will this last?_

After all, the only reason she could be so close to him like this was because of that strange anomaly.

"Sasuke-kun"

"Aa?"

"Can I ask you something?"

At this, the Uchiha took a moment to think before answering nonchalantly. "What is it?"

"Did you really mean what you said?"

Sakura paused to observe his response, though she realized maybe she should've been more specific. "I-I mean, prior to coming here.." Her eyes blinked up at the sky, afraid to meet his. "You said you were going to become Hokage, and that you had plans for the future of Konoha."

"I don't think I have to explain something like that to you."

Fair enough. She hadn't expected much out of that one.

Her chest started to beat a little bit faster. She took in a deep breath, still staring at the sky.

"Then, can you properly answer what I said to you after that?"

 _"If there's even a little corner of your heart that still thinks about me, that still thinks about team 7 and our comrades the way it used to, then please don't leave again." Sakura tried her hardest not to let herself break near the end, to be as firm and assertive as she could, but it got more and more difficult as she felt a love so overwhelming it managed to take over her composure almost immediately._

 _"If we stick together, I know it's possible that our bonds can be like old times again.."_

There it was.

Upon recalling her words, crystal-clear the exact way she had said it, the Uchiha registered the familiar, sinking feeling in his chest.

He absolutely hated this thing that Sakura seemed to excel at- the fact that she always managed to hit him spot on with a mixed feeling in his stomach with her words. That corner of his heart she spoke of, it was once a large area that had slowly begun to heal from the wounds of his past. Eventually, he had managed to eradicate it over the time spent away from her, from the rest of his comrades that he used to think of as second family.

And whenever she spoke to him about matters like this, it was as if a giant earthquake were threatening to destruct his inner resolve, and that little corner would begin to emerge once more.

"Bonds are made just to be destroyed."

Sakura's ears perked at the start of his words, "Even if they can somehow be rebuilt from utter deterioration, it's not something I can accept. That's not what I want anymore."

"Okay."

Sasuke wallowed in silence for a moment, a bit taken aback from her response- or rather, _lack of response_. He hadn't expected her to take that from him so easily.

"If that's what you really think, Sasuke-kun, okay." Sakura continued, "I can't see what's in your heart, and I don't have the power to magically change what anybody thinks. But, you know, Hinata said something really interesting to me earlier."

The Uchiha's silence told her to continue.

"I don't know, I just think being in a human's world makes you realize some things that we, as ninja, tend to forget. Normal humans are quite simple-minded, you know." Sakura grinned, "I think you'll have an experience like that here, too. When that happens, let's talk about this again."

Sasuke smirked at this, both amused and surprised at the way she took it. "If you say so."

"Ah!" Sakura suddenly jolted up from her laying position, breaking the serene atmosphere. "Are you going to bring home chicken again for dinner? I'm sorry, I originally thought about going out after school to get us something with the money you've put on the counter.."

"It's fine. I was going to stop by a store to get ingredients."

"You're going to cook?"

"You want to eat fried chicken everyday?"

Sakura shook her head violently at the thought. However, right when she was about to comment further, her eyes widened at a new realization.

"I have to go. I said I'd meet Katsuya back in the class after everybody leaves."

"Aa."

The Uchiha stayed where he was, not moving an inch as the pink-haired girl scrambled herself up from the ground and sped-walked towards the door. Before taking a step back inside, she jolted her head back to him and yelled.

"Either way, I'm sorry Sasuke-kun! I promise I'll find a job soon and I'll make you the most delicious food you've ever had!"

Instead of responding, the Uchiha lifted a hand from under his head and held his palm in the air, signifying she had been heard. As Sakura stole another glance at him, she grinned and then disappeared back into the staircase.


	10. Part X: Pink & Silver

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sakura and Sasuke's first basketball game ends well- though the Uchiha doesn't seem to think so. A new strange tension looms over him and Katsuya as the two of them antagonize eachother's presence. Sakura has a mini heart-to-heart talk with Hinata and Ino about her feelings for Sasuke, and she gains a little bit of strength after hearing a different perspective. When she goes onto the roof after school to look for the Uchiha, the two of them have their own moment of solitude despite having eachother's company..

 **A/N:** And here's chapter 10! I haven't finalized anything yet, but the story is looking to be around 30-35 chapters at most, so I'm proud to say we're 1/3 of a way :')... /shootsself

I actually had to go and research whether or not watches existed in Naruto.. luckily, I came across a wiki that actually tells you what kind of technology is seen in the original Naruto series (o thank god)

Anyways, just gonna tell you from the beginning, Sasuke doesn't appear in this chapter. Sorry friends, he's just trying his best becoming a fried chicken master. Also it's late and I'm hella tired right now but I really wanted to post this before I sleep so I apologize for any grammatical errors or weird phrases because my brain is f.r.i.e.d

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part X: Pink & Silver

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7 Trees, 20 bushes in the courtyard below.

The viridian-eyed girl closed her eyes, laying the side of her head on the cold desk after resorting to mundane methods of passing time. _Where the heck was that Katsuya?_

By this time, the classroom was empty, so she sat alone in her desk and listened to the tiny whirring of the fan from the ceiling while letting her mind wander elsewhere. She felt a bit nervous regarding planning this whole school festival thing. Could she really pull off this class president thing like she said she would? What if she completely botches it?

 _Whatever, man, I don't even belong here._ She concluded, _I'll just have to try my best for now._

She suddenly remembered Sasuke's words to not get too close to Katsuya. Now, if this were some hardcore love-story, she would've been thrilled to hear such concern from the person she wants the most. But it's not, and she knows he's just being overly cautious being the way he is, fearing the consequences of being too close with unassociated individuals.

She wished he would change that way of thinking. Getting him to renew his entire relationship with the Shinobi of Konoha is one thing, but he could at least _try_ to let loose in a place like this. He's not so dumb as to think that mere civilians were able to hurt them.

"Are you dead?"

Upon hearing the sudden voice behind her, Sakura didn't have to turn around to know that the bastard had finally showed his face. After forcibly peeling her head off the table, she looked the other direction and noted the silver-haired boy settling into his seat beside her and pulling his own desk so that it was a bit closer to hers.

"It's rude to make a girl wait" Sakura poked. As he placed his bag down and ran his hand a few times through his silver locks, the pink-haired girl couldn't help but notice the tiny object he had placed on the far side of his table. Squinting her eyes, she noticed the item to be a small box wrapped delicately in pink ribbon with a matching note tag hanging from the side.

At this, Sakura raised an eyebrow and further questions its contents. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide in realization as she felt her heart beginning to beat faster. _T-This bastard, don't tell me he's using this chance to suddenly confess to me while we're alone or something!? I'm totally not prepared for this!_

As she began to squint harder, she noticed a tiny flap of the note had been left open, and there, inside, was a name.

 _Nami?_ The viridian-eyed girl found herself sighing in relief, earning a questionable look from Katsuya, who had been watching her the entire time. _This guy actually has the audacity to go out and shop for a woman while making me wait!_

"So even a guy like you has a girlfriend, huh?"

"You shouldn't say stuff like that, it hurts people." He replies in a nonchalant, sarcastic tone. At this, Sakura rolled her eyes, deciding not to probe further.

"So, we're going to do a cosplay cafe," She switches up the mood of the atmosphere.

Katsuya darted his attention back towards her, the two of them maintaining eye contact with the sheepish smile on Sakura's face as he waited for her to continue the beginning of her anticipated speech. Only thing is, she didn't.

Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back into his chair. "You've never done this before, have you? Do you even know what a cosplay cafe is?"

Slowly, the pink-haired girl shook her head in shame, earning another groan from the silver-haired boy.

"This is what I get for being acquainted with countryside gals like you." He loathed, but continued to explain the foreign concepts. "Basically everybody in the class will be dressing up according to a particular theme- in our case, ninjas, and we'll be turning our room into a cafe where guests will be served by us, ideally in character as ninjas."

 _Is this how people of this world take us Shinobi who nearly died on the battlefield trying to save the world!?_ Sakura winced, inevitably appalled. _In the end,_ a _re we only worthy as maids serving in a cafe!?_

"Nevertheless, we have a week until the festival." Katsuya continued, unaware of the girls' true inner thoughts. "It'll be for the entire day, up till the evening, so there won't be any classes in session. Other classes will also be holding their own events, so you'll be free to go around and explore after you finish your shift in our class. At the end of the day, there will be a bonfire... I guess it'll be your first time experiencing something like this, right? Country bumpkin."

Aside from the ridicule of her people and somehow her new status as a countryside girl, Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit of stirring excitement for this whole festival thing. Like she mentioned before, it wasn't often that Konoha would hold events like this, and especially not throughout the past few years with the threat of the Akatsuki and Madara. There's probably going to be a lot of food! A lot of people! Games, and other new mundane things she would probably never experience back at home!

Katsuya cocked his head to the side, resting his cheek into his palm. He immediately noted the new shimmering light in her viridian eyes, even though she was clearly trying her best to hide her impeding excitement. At this, he couldn't help but feel the side of his mouth curl into a smile as well.

"So, what kinds of things should we have at our cafe?" Sakura asked, a new preppiness to her voice.

"Uh, I don't know, our class has a budget. But we'll probably need to get stuff like table covers, decorations-"

"Headbands!"

"Sorry?"

"We'll need headbands!" Sakura exclaimed, slapping the desk and leaning forward in case Katsuya couldn't hear, much contrary to actuality. "How else would people know which village we're from? It's a symbol of pride! Of our people! Also, we'll need to get each person a set of kunai and shuriken- absolutely essential in case ninjutsu- uh, since we don't have actual powers. I almost forgot, we'll need to practice proper Taijutsu or people will laugh at us. Did you see Shikamaru the other day? His form was totally-"

The pink-haired girl shut her mouth after noticing the amused smile on the silver-haired boy's face. At this point, she knew she had probably just given herself the crazy eyes as she blabbered on.

"I'm a ninjas enthusiast." She says quietly, taking a gulp. "That era is just fascinating."

Katsuya blinked once before letting out a low chuckle. "Okay, we'll go with those then."

Sakura felt her cheeks go red.

"The weekend is coming up. I can gather those who are willing to help out to come shopping on Saturday. The others can help out with making and setting up the props."

 _Shopping!?_ Sakura exclaimed internally, _Oh, god, that sounds like so much fun. There's so many things I want to- wait, I don't have any money! Sasuke-kun and I can't just go spending all of our savings like that. What if we end up becoming homeless, how would we-_

"-We can get most things from Daiso, if you want, since they have pretty cheap stuff."

 _Cheap!?_

"Where is that?" Sakura inquired.

"What? You don't know where Daiso is?" Katsuya blinked, "It's literally in the middle of the city, the giant department store with huge letters. There's no way you'd have missed it. There's an entire street full of things too."

Again, Sakura hit him with a clueless look.

"..The one a street down from Yoyogi park?"

"I-I don't know where that is"

"Ah.. seriously?" Katsuya scratched the back of his head, clicking his tongue apathetically. Sakura watched as he then held an arm up and examined the white face of his ticking watch.

"They should be still open right now, if you feel like checking it out." The silver-haired boy looked up, "It gets really crowded on the weekend, so we might as well take a look at some materials beforehand."

Sakura appeared to be pondering this for a second. _Katsuya does know the city better_ , she thought, _after that, I can go straight to job-hunting.._

"Alright, lets go for it then."

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"..So much for it being crowded only on weekends, huh?"

Katsuya sighed, lifting his head back up to look at the _circus_ in front of them.

As he and Sakura stood outside of the store, to their horror, it were as if giant masses of animals were stampeding within the place as if it were their last day on earth. Sakura stumbled a couple of times as people forcefully shoved their way around her and into the large glass doors, where a store clerk seemed to be having trouble organizing a systematic line of customers.

"I guess we'll just have to come here earlier on the weekend." Katsuya says dismissively, "Do you want to-"

As he turned his body towards the pink-haired girl, he realized she had already beat him to what he was about to say. Sakura looked straight behind the two of them, at a view that could be seen from their current spot. Rows of cherry blossoms aligned with eachother in clusters, the top of the trees breezing back and forth along with the light wind.

Katsuya studied her expression for a little while longer, slowly feeling a grin come onto his face as he noted how concentrated her glowing viridian-eyes looked.

"It's Yoyogi park. The cherry blossoms are in season."

Sakura blinked before turning to the silver-haired boy, who started his way opposite of the store and on ahead. "Let's go look."

At this, she coughed and wrinkled her eyebrows. "A-Alright! I didn't really want to go, but if you insist.."

Moments later, the pink-haired girl found herself practially skipping past the giant torii leading into the attraction site. As she entered the vast green area of the park encompassed by curving sidewalks and beautiful flowers on either side, she took a deep breath at the clean, fresh air of bark and flowery scents. The park itself was immaculate- a giant fountain could be seen placed in the center, a tiny bridge on the left side where children crouched down pointing fingers at the koi floating about in the iridescent waters below.

"Its breathtaking here," Sakura's smile only grew bigger as she lifted her head to admire the tall cherry blossoms from above, their petals slowly raining down as if they were dancing with the breeze.

"It's a huge attraction here, but I guess you wouldn't know that." Katsuya explains as the two of them continued along the sidewalk deeper into the sanctuary.

"Is it really okay for you to take me around like this?" Sakura smirked playfully, "Aren't you afraid of getting an earful from your girlfriend?"

At this, Katsuya merely shrugged.

"Ah.." The girl with the viridian eyes diverted her gaze to the right, grinning at the sight of three children, two boys and one girl, playing together and chasing eachother about in the grassy field. "I'll have to show Sasuke-kun this place later."

"Why's that? You like him or something?"

"No!" Sakura gave an emphasized laugh, slapping a hand at Katsuya's shoulder, surprising the guy with her sudden strength that managed to shift him over a step. "It's rude to assume things!"

Katsuya seemed to have doubts over her reaction, but didn't press on it further. Instead, he recalled the arrogant face of the other new student and their passive aggressive interactions, silently pondering what there was exactly to like about that guy in the first place.

Upon remembering these events, he couldn't help but refrain from haughty words at the mention of the Uchiha. "Would a depressing guy like that enjoy something like this, though?"

He watched her shrug. "Who knows. I'd still want him to see it, though. Hey look- its a pond area!"

Before he could give a response, the pink-haired girl had nimbled herself off towards a large area of water near the center of the park with a tiny gravel zone just before the water came in contact with the land.

As he approached the girl who stopped right before the wetness, he proceeded to bend down and picked up a nice, flat rock from the earth below. Sakura watched as he held it on the side, a little bit away from his body. She gave him a tiny eyebrow raise, and he smirked in return.

"Skipping rocks. Never done it before?"

After he said this, she watched as he flicked his wrist smoothly, sending the piece of stone across the water top as it bounced once, twice, three times over its surface. At this, the pink-haired girl dropped her mouth open in awe, her wide eyes meeting Katsuya's smug expression. _And he doesn't even have chakra!_

"It takes practice." He placed his hands on either side of his hips, holding his chin up proudly. "I'll teach you. The trick is two things: finding a good rock, the second-"

He didn't get to finish his explanation, though, as he witnessed from his periphery that Sakura was charging right past him and managed to shotput-style thrust a rock that was bigger than her palm _straight_ into the water.

Lucky for him, being adjacent to the wetness, he managed to receive a nice welcoming splash of coldness onto his face and shirt.

"Oh.." Sakura covered her mouth, trying to hide her surprise. "That didn't work, did it?"

Instead of replying, Katsuya gave a large sigh and lowered himself down in defeat into a squat, ruffling his wet bangs. At this, Sakura gulped nervously. _Is he mad?_

"Sorry.." She whispered quietly, cautious of the looming man on the ground.

"I was saying," He finally spoke, nonchalant. "There's a second trick to a good skip."

He tilted his head to the side, lifting a finger in the air to inch her forward. Sakura nodded, maneuvering herself closer until the two of them were now crouched side-by-side. She leaned her head towards him, where he moved closer to whisper into her ear.

Sakura gulped. She could feel his gentle breath tickling her ear- and it was then that she became aware that he was dangerously close to her face.

" _You messed up._ "

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl gasped as her eyes shut closed, her mouth hanging open in shock as a large scoop of cold water attacked her face, sending a giant shiver down her spine.

At this, Katsuya bursted out in unreserved laughter, letting his bottom fall to the ground as he covered his amused expression. "It looks better on you."

If Sakura weren't busy stroking the strands of wet bangs away from her face and biting her lip to abstain her brute strength of anger, she would've mentioned that this was the first time seeing this guy genuinely laugh. It was a refreshing change from his stuck up attitude.

"You're funny. I didn't think someone like you were capable of such child's play." She says instead in a sarcastic tone, giving him a tiny push in the shoulder. It'd be bad if she hit a human, after all.

Instead of responding to her mockery, Katsuya let the rest of his laughter slow to a halt before shooting an arm up in the air, wiggling his wrist a little bit before once again checking the time on his watch. At this, Sakura raised an eyebrow in curiosity, finding herself having to ask. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Uh.." He lagged for a bit, as if in thought. "Not really. But it'd be convenient for me to drop something off.."

"Oh, then let's go." _I won't able to find my way out of this area on my own, anyway._

"..You sure? It's not really in our agenda."

"Yeah, whatever. We can continue looking at stuff after."

The silver-haired boy appeared to comtemplate this for a second, though he finally gave a nod and placed a hand on the ground to prop himself back up onto his feet. Just as Sakura were about to attempt the same, a hand showed in her periphery and she looked to the side, where Katsuya stood waiting for her to take his offer. After a few seconds, she took it with her own, lifting herself from the earth as they then separated and started down a different gravelled path.

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In the following few minutes, the the two of them were no longer in the area of the park and vast stores, but to Sakura, it seemed as if she had once again teleported into a different world. Only, this wasn't a different world, but merely a different area of the city- as Katsuya had explained it. There was the _central city_ , where all the big streets and flashy things are, and there was the side with traditional, Japanese-looking houses with long cement paths and tiny wooden gates enclosing the residential homes.

Sakura looked at these tiny homes, thinking she was definitely more used to seeing living quarters like these compared to the apartment her and Sasuke had managed to snatch. It wasn't long before the two of them reached the front of a cute place- a set of tiny stairs leading up to a wooden gate and then into a brief pathway before the main door. Sakura took a moment to admire the earthy colors of the exterior; clean sliding windows on either side with translucent curtains obstructing the view of the inside.

"You don't have to come in. I won't take long." Katsuya says, receiving a nod from the pink-haired girl as he disappeared past the gate and towards the door. _Wait,_

Sakura jolted her head to follow the silver-haired boy in realization. _He lives here and we're at his house!? Is that weird?_

She watched from afar as he appeared to have brought out a set of keys, shaking them into the knob before pushing the door open with ease. At this, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if he lived alone. She had just met the guy, and he seemed to be a mysterious one. After today, she could safely conclude that he really wasn't as stuck up as she initially thought. _Just a little bit._

Her eyes suddenly caught sight of an older woman appearing at the opened doorway, seemingly welcoming him home with a warm smile on her face. _His mother?_ They did look a bit similar. The biggest thing that set her off from concluding so was that her hair was a beautiful sleek black, nearly tied up into a high ponytail.

Suddenly, the woman's icy blue eyes met hers, catching Sakura by surprise. A moment later, she grinned and began waving her way, urging her to come in.

She saw that Katsuya attempted a protest; only to receive a playful slap on the shoulder in chastisement. By then, the viridian-eyed girl had already reached the front door. _It'd be rude if I ignored her. How did this end up happening?_

"Come in, come in!" The woman urged continuously, waving her hand once more to shuffle her inside.

"Sorry for the intrusion.." Sakura whispered, scratching the back of her head shyly.

"Intrusion indeed.." The silver-haired boy muttered, receiving another slap from the woman.

"You can call me Yuna," The lady gave a closed-eye smile, and Sakura noticed she had adorable wrinkles on the sides of her eyes when she did. "I'm sorry, my son thinks he's an entitled man."

At this, Sakura couldn't hold back a chuckle while Katsuya rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pocket. So she _is_ his mom.

Just as she were wrapping the idea around her head, she noticed the presence of a tiny figure leering on the side of the wooden staircase beside them. She took note of a small girl looking to be around 5 years old with short, black hair just like Yuna, except it was nicely cut straight up to her jawline. Her icy blue eyes shone just like Katsuya's and Yuna's, though at the moment they spoke of curiosity and impatience.

Yuna appeared to have noticed her daughter lingering. "Nami, come say hi to this pretty onee-chan!"

 _Hold on, so she.._ Sakura watches as the girl bounces towards them until she reached the back of Katsuya's leg, grabbing his pant and slowly peering an eye past to look at Sakura with great caution.

"This is Nanami." The silver-haired boy says, eyeing Sakura with a look that seemed to ridicule her misunderstanding from earlier, "My little sister."

"Ahh..." The viridian-eyed girl laughed nervously before crouching down to Nami's height, her clear blue eyes following her as she did so. The two of them exchanged looks with one another for a few seconds before Sakura cocked her head to the side, giving her a benevolent smile. "Hello, Nami. I'm Sakura, your brother's classmate at school."

"Hi.." The little girl spoke in a quiet, high-pitched voice. Sakura felt a warm feeling inside her chest hearing the sound of such a cute being.

Nami then eventually turned up towards her brother, giving his pant leg a gentle tug for his attention. The older brother diverted his gaze downwards to deliver so.

"Onii-san, Nami wants to go to the playground."

Katsuya paused for a second. "Nami, I still have some things to do right now."

At this, the little girl looked down disappointedly. "But it's Nami's birthday.."

Sakura's eyes travelled from the sad child to Katsuya, then back to Nami's upsetting expression.

"We can take Nami to the playground."

"Hah?"

"It's fine, right?" The pink-haired girl grins as the little girls' face slowly lit up, "It's Nami's birthday, after all. And it's not like we're able to get into the store right now anyways."

Hearing this, the saddened look on Nami's face immediately disappeared, replaced by a silly grin.

The next thing she knew, and to Katsuya's astonishment, the three of them bid goodbye to Yuna before strolling down the neighbourhood street opposite of where they came from, with Nami skipping up ahead of the two high schoolers happily, but within sight.

"Didn't know you were into babysitting." The silver-haired boy says nonchalantly, looking straight ahead at his sister.

"Kids are cute. And besides, it's her birthday. Are you really going to deny the simple wishes of a little girl?"

Katsuya rolled his eyes.

"Besides, I didn't know you had a sister in the first place."

"Was that something I had to report to you?"

The pink-haired girl pouted at his response. It was exactly at times like these that she couldn't really differentiate between him and Sasuke-kun. "Although she doesn't look like you all that much- even though you have the same eyes."

A following silence emitted in the air as Sakura's words were left hanging. A moment later, he sighed as if giving in.

"She's not actually my sister."

"What?"

"She's my cousin." Katsuya explained, "Yuna is my mom's sister."

"Oh.." The pink-haired girl drained, forcing herself to keep her eyes on the little girl still prancing up ahead.

"You don't have to be so reserved all of a sudden. It's exactly what you probably think. " He explains as a matter-of-factly, "My mom passed away when I was a kid. I don't know where my dad is. Nami is my cousin and Yuna has been taking care of me ever since."

"..Oh." Sakura replies, unaware that that was also the last thing she said. Maybe this was a topic she shouldn't have gotten him to bring up. Someone like her just wasn't good for matters regarding family crises. She was pretty sure everybody knew that, especially when it came to her and her two best male friends growing up.

At this, she still couldn't bring herself to look at him directly, but instead continued to gaze up ahead. Katsuya, though, took note of her rigid movements in her robotic-like walk. He watched her serious expression for a few seconds, then let out a carefree chuckle and reached to ruffle the top of her hair playfully.

"Don't give me such a depressed look. It was a long time ago."

"I-I wasn't!" Sakura stuttered, gently knocking his hand away.

"We're here!"

The two of them then came to a stop as Nami halted in front of a play area across from adjacent streets of retail stores. There was a large playground with a tiny pathway connecting its two parts; one of them a tinier area with teeter totters and a high house with a spiral slide escalating down. The larger playground had a set of bigger swings with an even bigger mock-house connected to another one with a tiny rocking bridge. Looking at this playground, Sakura concluded it was luxury for children, considering they didn't have anything as big as this back in her days at the academy.

"Sakura onee-san.."

The pink-haired girl peered below at the tugging to see Nami looking up at her with open blue eyes filled with anticipation. "Let's play Kei-doro!"

"Kei-doro?" Sakura repeated.

"It's a tag game- cops and robbers, where one of you is the cop and you have to try to catch the robber to bring them to jail." Katsuya explained, folding his arms passively, as if he had been through this time after time.

Sakura took a moment to absorb the concept of such a game. As Nami proceeded to tug the arm of her blazer, she had an unwarranted flashback of playing a game of similar nature back in her childhood days. Ino always managed to get her whenever she was it- and Sakura started hating it after awhile, though she was too afraid to say anything about it back then. She was really such a shy, reserved girl when she was younger.

The pink-haired girl smiled as she recalled the days that now seem so far behind.

"Sakura onee-chan, you're the Oni!"

"What!?"

Nami was quick on her feet to get away. Before anybody knew it, Katsuya's sister had made her way up the house on the big playground and went in hiding, seemingly out of sight from her crouched position. Sakura didn't lag further either; she immediately took character of the Oni and headed towards the little girl. For a moment, Katsuya stood idly from behind, watching as the pink-haired girl crept up on his sister and scared her from behind, her tiny feet falling back a little before she let out a giggle and ran away once more. An irrevocable grin displayed on his face at the sight before he, too, joined in on the play as a robber.

And with that, the sky eventually began to tinge a glowing orange, a tiny pink peering through the clouds that threatened to overshadow the scarce sunlight that slowly began to disappear. At this time, Sakura was now on the ground, her belly about to cave into the heavy weight that rested on it's surface.

"Nami," She gasped, "Onee-chan is tired. And you're heavy."

"Nami isn't heavy! Nami is tiny!" The little girl bounced a bit, causing the pink-haired girl to flex her abdominal muscles (thank god she had those), resisting impending doom.

The three of them had finished about three, four, no- who knows, really, how many games of Kei-doro they had gone through for the past three hours. The one thing Sakura now knew was that she could somehow stand hours and hours of endurance training from Tsunade, but not three hours of playground games with children.

Katsuya, too, layed on the grassy side of the playground next to the sidewalk in a starfish rest, his stomach heaving up and down as he attempted to catch his breath.

As he shifted his head to the side with the little energy he had left, he looked at the two girls on his far left, who seemed to be engaged in an ardent conversation about the game scores. He watched especially carefully at the intricate ways Sakura's facial expressions changed in conversation with his sister, as if she were an unpredictable current.

"Again, again!"

The silver-haired boy continued to watch with amusement at his sisters insistency, shaking the pink-haired girl's lifeless shoulders as Sakura shook her head with a groan.

He had to admit, a girl like that was great with kids. Even he, himself, could not stand Nami's games after the first thirty minutes, even. And it seemed like they really liked eachother.

"Nami."

The girl with the short black hair jolted her attention towards her brother, who waved a hand urging her to come over. He watched as Sakura mouthed something gratefully as the little girl bounced her way towards her brother in curiosity.

Cocking her head to the side, she observed as her brother then propped his upper body up from the grass and reached inside his pocket to pull out a tiny box wrapped nicely in pink ribbon. Seeing this, her face lit up in new excitement.

Sakura found herself also intrigued by this, remembering she had mistakenly thought it was for his girlfriend. As she forced her body up, she made her way over to the two of them as Katsuya grinned softly.

"Happy 6th Birthday, Nami."

"Ehehe..." A tiny tinge of red appeared on the chubby cheeks of the little girl before she reached out and gently took the gift into her small hands. She looked back at her brother inquisitively.

"Can I open it?"

"Sure, Nami."

Sakura leaned over the little girls' shoulder in curiosity, watching as she quickly tore the ribbon off impatiently and slipped open the boxed lid. To both of their surprise, a tiny set of hair-ties laid in the center of the pink paddening. As Nami took a closer look, she noticed a set of sparkling red cherries on either hair-tie with pressed daisies embedded on the inside.

"It's super, super, _super_ pretty!" Nami exclaimed, taking the hairbands into her hand while leaving the box in the grass. Tiny drops of tears began welling in her eyes despite her evident excitement, and soon Sakura noticed she bit her lip hard as if trying not to cry.

"Nami?" The pink-haired girl questioned with growing concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nami can't wear these right now." The little girl spoke with a shaky voice.

"That's okay." Katsuya reassured gently, "Your hair will grow fast, Nami. You don't have to use them right away."

"NO, IT WONT! NAMI'S HAIR WILL NEVER GROW!"

Katsuya and Sakura nearly jolted back at the sudden outburst of his little sister, whose face quickly turned a deeper shade of red, this time in distress. The silver-haired boy glanced to the side at Sakura, who looked back at him in shock. Slowly, Katsuya inched himself closer to his sister and lowered his head so that he was eye-to-eye with her.

"Nami. I don't understand, you're not going to have short hair forever. Mom always says your hair is getting longer by the day."

"That's right, Nami." Sakura chimed in, also gently bringing herself in front of Nami in efforts to diffuse the little girl's heightened state. However, as she got closer and examined her properly, there was a growing feeling inside of her that told her that there was something more to it. Just as she was about to speak once more, Nami shoved the hairbands into Katsuya's hand impatiently.

"Nami." Katsuya deepened his voice, carefully taking his sisters tiny hand into his own and gently holding the hairbands back into her palm, holding them in place. "It's rude to do that."

"Nami, is there a reason why you're upset that your hair won't grow?"

At this, Katsuya looked at Sakura, who seemed to pose a strange question at this time. As the two of them searched the little girls' face for a response, Nami collected all of her strength as if she were about to burst and began to tightly clutch her brother's hand that covered hers.

"BECAUSE!" She yelled, "SHOU-KUN DOESN'T LIKE GIRLS WITH SHORT HAIR!"

And in this very moment, Sakura felt herself freeze at the little girls' words. Another quick wave of flashbacks seemed to speed through her mind, from the day she met Ino to when the two of them declared war on eachother for Sasuke-kun- up to the point where finally, the time came where having long hair suddenly didn't matter to her anymore.

Although, it was too late to voice these memories out loud, because the next thing that happened, _happened_ in what seemed like seconds. All she saw was that Nami had struck Katsuya's hand away harshly, subsequently sending the two hair-ties flying onto the adjacent street beside them.

What made it feel like it was so fast was that Sakura had immediately jumped to her feet in response.

Time seemed to slow down for an eternity there. Katsuya recalled the pink-haired girl diving into the street, his peripheral vision picking up the rush of moving vehicles that seemed to be going quicker than they really were. It didn't matter, though, because they obviously moved fast enough for him to find the need to yell. And even so, his voice seemed inaudible to the girl crouching on the street.

And in the next moment, all he saw was red.


	11. Part XI: Daffodil grow, Daffodil wilt

**Previous Chapter Summary:** As Sasuke and Sakura part ways at the end of school, Sakura joins Katsuya on planning for the welcome back festival. When the two of them roam the city together, they end up at Yoyogi park, a place new to the pink-haired girl as she takes her time in breathing in its beautiful atmosphere. Somehow, they end up at Katsuya's house where Sakura meets Nami, Katsuya's little sister. Unfortunately, before the day ends, something uncalled for happens to Sakura..

 **A/N:** I've been excited to write this chapter! Finally get to talk more in depth about our couple here.. and as for Katsuya, somehow a lot of people are actually liking him and Sakura together!? What is this!? Oh well, I can work with that. :)

Again, just going to reinforce that contents within this chapter are purely my own interpretation and also based off of scenes and information from the anime, movies and novels (in other words.. what I wish was what happened cries)

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XI: Daffodil grow, Daffodil wilt

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* * *

The tiny sizzling of the steel pan slowly dissipated until there wasn't a sound left in the kitchen.

Aside from obvious matters of the past, his brother had always been well-versed with the art of making egg dishes. That was something Sasuke remembered in amidst of the vast memories of chaos and destruction in his disoriented life.

Well, not that that was relevant now. At least not in this moment where he was somehow in a position to be making oyakodon for Sakura- someone he had never even dreamed once to be caring for, even in a different world. With this in mind, he quickly turned off the stove and carefully placed the bright yellow tamago on top of the bowl of seasoned rice and chicken, completing his meal for two.

On the same thought, he did notice that Sakura had been a bit late to come home. He arrived from work at 7. Unsure to his astonishment or disgust, he was getting the hang of working at KFC. The last time he checked the clock, it was 8. By the time he managed to figure out how to work the foreign appliances in their apartment and finished cooking, it was probably 9. It pained him to admit such a thing, but he felt his intuition kicking itself into its highest state. Out of all the missions he had been on with her, she was always the second one to arrive next to him. Maybe she had found herself a job already and was on an emergency shift? Or maybe that Katsuya..

Sasuke blinked before shaking this off. It's not like he'd know for sure what she's like now. After all, it's been a long time. Who knows what her new habits were like. And since when did he find the time to even subconsciously think about that girl?

A gentle knocking came on the entrance just as he had dismissed these thoughts. _Speak of the devil._

As the Uchiha cooly walked over to the door and pulled it open, instead of being greeted by a short blob of pink, he winced at the sight of a boy with shiny black bowl-cut hair and a sequin blue top that threatened to shine the light out of his obsidian orbs. As Sasuke squinted at the sight, he also took note of the unidentified item in his hand.

"Oh.. well, hello there.." Lee widened his eyes, clearly liking what he saw as he thoroughly took in the sight of the Uchiha, still in the dress shirt of his uniform, holding the spatula with his hand.

"What do you want?" Sasuke inquired in an irritated manner.

"Sasuke-kun, it's seriously inconvenient for you to not have a cellphone. But I guess that just means I'll have to come up here to find you..." The bowl-cut boy licked his lips feverishly, taking one last scan at the Uchiha's motherly appearance.

Sasuke felt his irritation rise. "Just tell me what you need."

At this, Lee cleared his throat and held out the item in his hand, a tiny rectangle-looking object.

"Somebody's looking for you.. bring it back down when you're finished."

The raven-haired boy hesitated, but in the end took the item from his hands and cringed at the subsequent wink he had received before Lee disappeared down the hall. Sasuke watched until he had completely gone past the corner before he took his time in staring at the strange, light item in his hand. What exactly was he supposed to do with this? If anybody was looking for him, they could simply-

" _...Hello? Is this Uchiha Sasuke-san?_ "

Who is that!?

If it weren't for his quick reflexes, the item would have dropped onto the ground if he didn't catch it after he had flung it into the air. He held it at a distance from his body, pointing the spatula at it ominously to wait for its next phrase. _Is somebody trapped?_

" _...Hello?_ "

Slowly and cautiously, he began to inch the object closer to his ear, though still at a careful distance- just enough to speak to the voice. "Speaking."

" _This is Tokyo General Hospital. I'm calling in regards to Sakura Haruno._ "

Sasuke froze at the mention of his teammate. Immediately, he pulls the item right up to his ear. "What happened?"

" _Miss Haruno was in an accident this evening and she's currently in our hands,_ "

Hospital? Sakura?

" _-We weren't sure who to contact for the first while, but if you could come in we can give you details on her current condition.._ "

The woman on the phone continued her speech, though from that moment on it all sounded like distant muffles to him. A strange feeling of urgency welled inside of his chest, but he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Is this how he was going to see the last of that girl? In a world like this?

" _-Will you be able to come at this moment?_ "

" _...Hello? Sasuke-san? Are you still on the line?_ "

* * *

The silver-haired boy couldn't stop the shaking in his leg and the clenching of his hands pressed together, his nails digging into raw skin. Nami dug her face into her brother's shoulder, her tears present but silent as the two of them sat in the waiting area outside of Sakura's hospital room.

"Onii-san.."

He turned his head to the soft calling of his sister, who looked up at him with tearful eyes. "Is Sakura onee-chan going to be okay?"

"She'll be okay, Nami." Katsuya reassured her, plastering a forced grin on his face as he ruffled the top of her lowered head.

The door to Sakura's room soon shifted open, and an old man in a white coat appeared to greet the silver-haired boy as he immediately stood up in response.

"Doctor, how is she?"

The old man wrinkled his nose before speaking. "She hit her head on the ground pretty hard, but there's only some superficial bleeding that we've taken care of." He watched as Katsuya raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue on to the most important part.

"She'll be fine. You may go in to see her, but remember she'll need to rest for awhile."

With this, the silver-haired boy let out a sigh and thanked him before giving Nami a slight nod as the two of them entered the hospital room. Katsuya held his breath when he observed the pink-haired girl sitting upright in her bed, smiling as the two of them made their way in further. "Hi, you two."

As Nami quickly rushed over to her side, Katsuya winced and paused in his tracks as he felt his heart sink at her weakened sight. The little girl immediately buried her face into the pink-haired girls' arm, the wetness of her eyes staining her skin. "I'm sorry! Nami is sorry!"

"It's okay, I'm fine." Sakura grinned, patting a hand on the little girls' back. Her gaze looked up and met with the saddened blue orbs, and she let out a tiny laugh. "What's with you? There really isn't anything wrong with me, I'll be good by tomorrow before you know it!"

"You didn't have to do something like that." Katsuya says, still keeping a distance. _How could I have let that happen?_

"I know, sorry for worrying you.." Sakura says, reaching a hand towards the side table of her bed. "But I'm a strong person, you know. Something like that isn't going to kill me."

At this, Katsuya sighed. Sakura then turned back around, gently tapping the shoulder of the little girl to prompt her to look up. When she did, the pair of hair-ties hung in front of her, a tiny crack within the plastic cherries but still intact.

"Nami, can I tell you something?" The pink-haired girl asked, earning a nod from the black-haired girl. Sakura inched her closer until she could reach Nami's shoulders, turning her so that she faced the other direction.

Slowly, she began running her hand through Nami's shiny black locks before making a part down the middle. "Nami, did you know? A lot of girls like you will go through similar stages in life."

The little girl gulped down her tears, listening intently.

"The first is when we're still tiny and we feel small and insecure. We're too shy to talk to the people we want to talk to the most. It's when we're still afraid of what people think, and sometimes we're too scared to be ourselves."

 _"Forehead girl! Forehead girl!"_

 _"What's with that big forehead!?"_

 _The pink-haired girl bit her lip, fighting her tears as she dropped the ball in her hands at the laughter of her classmates. She looked to the right in panic, where a raven-haired boy walked past and took a slight glance at the commotion before diverting his gaze and continuing his path._

Sakura took the left bundle of Nami's hair, brushing her hand through once more before picking up one of the hair-ties and wrapping it around her short locks. Katsuya leaned his shoulder on the wall a few feet away from them, crossing his arms.

"-The second, is when we find the strength to start changing. There's a reason behind this change, whether it be for someone or for yourself. Or both. You take care of it as if it were the last thing on earth.. nothing else is more important to you. You feel as a girl should feel- beautiful, confident."

 _"I see, so your forehead is wide, just like a ghost."_

 _The blonde-haired girl ran her hand through the pink-haired girls' bangs, touching the warm skin under the protection of her locks._

 _"I'll give you this red ribbon." She says, subsequently urging the pink-haired girl to turn around so she could tie up the front of her hair. "You get picked on because you hide it. You're cute, so don't be afraid."_

Her fingers wrap around the second part of her hair, making sure it was flattened and nicely brushed.

 _"Hey, Ino, I heard that Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair."_

"Lastly, the most important change happens." The pink-haired girl whispered, "When you grow up, Nami, suddenly, things like short hair and long hair don't matter as much to you anymore. What matters is that through this change, you feel stronger than before so you can protect yourself and the people you love. For a girl, this is very important."

 _"Your hair is shinier than mine. If you have time to worry about your hair, you should practice."_

 _The pink-haired girl felt her head being shaken around, a tight grasp on the ball of her hair. Tears flew madly down onto the barren earth, disappearing into its embrace._

 _But then, with a flick of her wrist and with the kunai in her hand, the thing that had been in the way all the along was gone._

 _I have to protect the people precious to me._

 _This time, I want all of you to watch me from my back._

Finally, Sakura slipped on the second hair-tie, pulling it so that it tightened around the lock of her short hair. The cherries fit perfectly- and her hair was just long enough to be put into stubby pigtails. A following silence emitted before Nami slowly turned around, her tears ceased.

Sakura gave another benevolent grin. "I'm sure Shou-kun will also come to understand this one day. Your brother worked hard to get this for you, so please keep them, okay?"

"Onee-chan.." Nami began, unable to finish her words as she then nodded repeatedly. At this, Katsuya smiled from where he was before starting his way closer to the two girls. Sakura looked up at him, and the two of them exchanged smiles.

"Thanks." He says quietly, meaning every last bit.

The three of them enjoyed the following silence for a moment before Nami spoke in sudden realization. "Onee-chan, do you have someone you like, too?"

At this, Sakura chuckled. "I do."

"Is it that one?"

The smile soon faded as she turned her head slowly to follow the direction of Nami's finger, which landed straight on the raven-haired boy standing at the door.

* * *

A new, ominous air filled the room at the appearance of the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun" She greeted in a whisper. As nobody has spoken since then, Sakura quickly blinked to clear her head before remembering the two beside her.

"Katsuya, Nami. I guess I'll see you guys some other time."

The silver-haired boy appeared reluctant for a second, but nevertheless gave a nod in acknowledgment as Nami waved the pink-haired girl off before two of them started towards the door.

Sasuke stood, feet planted in his spot at Katsuya walked past him, his sister following him closely from behind. As the two of them intersected ways, the corner of their eyes met for a split second before the silver-haired boy disappeared out the door.

The quiet in the hospital room was strong following the exit of the siblings. It were as if the two ninjas were holding their breaths, challenging the other to let go and speak first. Sakura swore he could probably hear the loud beating of her heart in amidst of their impending silence. The first thing Sasuke took note of when he looked back at her was the bandage that was neatly wrapped around her forehead. He continued to search for any signs of defection on her creamy skin. It didn't really seem like she was in pain.

He wasn't sure if he felt relieved or _ticked off_. Thinking about that only made his mood worse.

He walked closer to her, until he was standing at the side of her bed where Katsuya had stood.

"What happened to you?" He asks blankly instead, with the same face he usually wore.

The pink-haired girl hesitated for a moment, unsure of how she should respond. A part of her sensed that he wouldn't react well no matter what came out of her mouth. Why did she feel like a child that was about to get in trouble?

"Nami dropped something important to her, and I couldn't just let it go." She started, subsequently forcing a childish grin. "It's rough without chakra, eh? I guess I just forgot how delicate normal humans are. If it were back in Konoha, I could've easily-"

"Who's that?"

Sakura gulped at the calm, yet assertiveness of his voice. "Katsuya's sister."

..What? "What does that have to do with you?"

"We were out looking at stores for festival materials" She continued, "The store we wanted to go to was busy. Katsuya lived nearby so we stopped there for a bit. In the end, we decided to take his sister out... since it's her birthday and all, I didn't want to disappoint her. And at that specific moment, my body just kinda moved on its own. If Katsuya hadn't come right away, I would've.."

You would've what?

Died?

Just like that?

You survived countless S-rank missions- saved whenever I tried to lay my hands on you.. but without a word, without anybody else in this world who knows what kind of person you were, you did this just to let it end it like that? Would you be satisfied that way?

"You were in _danger_ , Sakura."

"I know. But-"

"If something worse had happened to you, you do remember that we're powerless, right? I can't help you, and even though you may be a medic ninja you sure as hell wouldn't be able to help yourself here." Sasuke urged, silencing the pink-haired girl. "I don't imagine you wouldn't have forgotten about something as important as that."

Sakura, on the other hand, was a bit taken aback by his sudden incision. She took a moment to note the unsettled appearance in his eyes, something she had missed earlier on. "Hold on a second, do you think I chose for this to happen or something?"

"You said you were going job hunting after you finished with him. It doesn't matter to me if you want to play babysitter or whatnot, but have I not warned you about being careful?"

"Careful about what? Katsuya? Please, Sasuke-kun, don't bring your little passive aggressive fire into this." Sakura spat, "I _was_ going to go job-hunting after we finished, but things went in a different direction. It's called a _change of plans_ , something I assume you would understand very well."

She muttered the last bit in a low voice, but not quiet enough to pass Sasuke's hearing. At this, he narrowed his eyes offensively. "In that case, continue on mingling with your civilian friends. I could care less about what you really want to do."

"What do you mean what I really want- Wait, do you think I _like_ Katsuya now or something?"

"That's definitely my biggest problem." Sasuke says mockingly. "We've known eachother for a long time, Sakura. When you said you weren't going to let yourself fall behind me, I believed you. We fought a war together, after all. But if you prefer to stay here living in this fantasy life at this school and playing house everyday with that guy and his sister, I won't stop you if thats what you really want. It's not so bad, isn't it? You wouldn't have to chase me around anymore."

He paused ominously. "I thought you were less naive than that, but I guess some things about people never change, do they?"

As he said this, Sakura felt her heart drop down to her stomach.

 _"Sakura, you're overdoing it. At this rate, you'll deplete all of your chakra reserves."_

 _The pink-haired girl panted, mustering all of her power to catch her breath before making one last strike at the series of boulders adjacent to the grassy field. She's heard Tsunade's warnings too many times._

 _"I'm fine," she muttered, careful not to break her chakra balance despite her shaking hands._

 _Countless nights of sleeplessness, strength and endurance training, burying her face in hundreds of pages of medical books.. just what the hell was that all for then?_

 _"I'm going to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke."_

 _Even if it was the last thing she'll do._

She found herself putting all the strength in her to maintain a strong face. For a man of few words, he sure was capable of talking right now.

The raven-haired boy saw this. He saw the way he expertly made her viridian eyes suddenly lose the glow it always had.

He then cursed himself for feeling a subsequent drop in his own stomach. He knew he had always been the culprit.

Don't lose it, Uchiha.

"-Like I said, if you're not capable of seeing this through, then I'll take matters into my own hands."

She felt her hands trembling as she forcefully clutched the blanket into her palms.

"And what position are you in to be belittling me for that?" Sakura gritted through her teeth, trying her best to hold the tears that threatened to run down her cheek. Sasuke raised his head and listened intently at the change of her tone, though his expression unwavered.

"Is that really what you think, Sasuke? Because if it is, then fine. If you're going to push away my concern and love for you, I won't be adamant about it anymore." She starts shakily.

"I may not be able to help you in ways I would like to, but just like how you say you know me, Sasuke, _I know you as well_ \- and I seriously doubt you dragged yourself here just to waste your precious time to tell me how incompetent I am. You can't just show that one second you care about me and then claim I'm annoying and you'd rather be alone the next. Didn't you come rushing here in the first place because a corner of your heart at least cared that much?"

Stop.

"-Just what exactly do you consider me as?"

Sakura shuddered before finishing. He watched as a roll of silent tears finally found their way down her cheek.

Another sight he's seen countless times in the past.

"You asked me to answer you properly." He began, silently. "Okay. I'll tell you. Did I even once ask for you, for Naruto, for _anybody_ to care about me? To help me find myself again and come back to you as if nothing ever happened? Just because of your so-called concern and and thoughtfulness, why do I have to use my scars and pain to satisfy your cheap sympathy? You say you have feelings for me, but the bridges between us burnt down a long time ago- something that was bound to happen over time."

"Is that so?" Sakura choked, "But no matter how much you try to falsify my feelings.. you're still here, aren't you? Even when I was attacked by that guy when we first came here. You could've just let me get slaughtered, just like what you've always wanted, right? My annoying self would finally be out of your way forever. You'd be free to do whatever you wanted here and I wouldn't be in your way at all."

She waited for some kind of reaction from him. When she received none, she continued with furrowed eyebrows.

"Instead, why did you choose to save me?"

 _My feet moved on their own._

"Was it really because you don't care?"

 _Stop asking me things like that._

"I don't understand why you always have to push me away like this."

 _Because having to see your face every day like this reminds me of those precious bonds I've left behind._

Sakura shook her head slowly as she took a moment to catch her jagged breath, then continued after his silence. "This was never about me trying to get in your way, Sasuke, and I'm not asking you to reciprocate my feelings. After spending some time with you here, I just want to know if there's something regarding me or Naruto that you aren't coming to terms with yourself with- that what I feel right now has some truth to it. You and I both know I've already tried my fair share of stopping you. Even if I couldn't do it the night you left the village, when I met you on the bridge in the land of Iron, when confessing to Naruto and then trying to attack you, I still-"

Sasuke froze at a paralyzing chill running down his entire body.

 _"The truth is.. I've always known in my heart, there was nothing I could have done for you." The pink-haired girl gasped in between her tears, "But I love you! No matter what's happened, I still care for you more than I can bear.."_

"You confessed to Naruto?"

The pink-haired girl paused, immediately recalling the misunderstanding of her words as she widened her eyes in realization. "No! I-"

 _That sickens me._

The Uchiha smiled in a mocking manner, and suddenly Sakura felt afraid. "This is what I mean. People and obscure things like bonds change. They become warped over time and in the end, you don't know what's become of them. Just like your love for me that you claim to hold onto so dearly.. if you were able to waver that easily, then I guess they were insincere after all."

 _And to think I once thought of accepting those feelings._

"What did you say?"

A tantalizing silence fell through the room as Sasuke stood, mortified at the last bit of his thoughts that had been said out loud. Sakura looked at him, deer in headlights, as he then closed his lips dismissively and started towards the door.

A sudden tight grasp forced itself upon his forearm, compelling him to remain behind. He didn't look back at her, but he could feel her arm trembling, though she didn't let it stop her. "Are you saying- you, towards me, in the past.."

He had prepared himself well to leave that day.

He made sure not to leave a single thing in his living quarters. Packing didn't take very long because he was a very disciplined and tidy person. He knew where everything was. It was also because he didn't really have many belongings to begin with- as if he were ready to do this at any time. When he slipped his bag on and finally prepared to exit, he paused and walked over to his dresser by the window to stare at the photo of Team 7, unsure of the emotions whirring in his chest. He then turned off the lights and slipped through the door, closing it gently for the last time.

He chose to leave by the north exit that cold night.

His feet automatically took him farther from the center of his upbringing and into the shadows of the night. On his walk there- as emotionless as he seemed, Sasuke continued to feel an overwhelming force inside his chest. He thought about the people he was leaving behind- the people he had come to call his family. Over time, his walls slowly disintegrated as the individuals around him suddenly became bigger. For the first time in his life, he'd come to know the feeling of love and friendship.

He saw Sakura that night. It was also the same night he knew that these feelings were meant to perish.

A Uchiha's love is a strong emotion, and it was scary. Sakura was the one person who welcomed that love with open arms, even though she, at that time, was naive and unaware of its dangers. And as much as he appeared to think little of it, he was grateful for the existence of that love. It was the same kind of love he felt from his family before his existence became nothing but these painful scars. He knew that out of everyone who could have possibly given him a lifetime of the emotion he lacked the most, it'd be Sakura.

So who exactly was she to him?

He didn't have much time to contemplate this, because compared to his overflowing feelings of hate for Itachi and jealousy of Naruto, there was no room in his heavy heart for her. There was simply nothing that could benefit from an insignificant infatuation of a 12 year old. Certainly not when you were a Uchiha.

So he thanked her properly. Then disappeared past the border between light and shadow.

And that's precisely why he absolutely _loathed_ this situation they were in. This scenario where he suddenly became forced to reacquaint himself with her, under the same roof, attending the same school together like they had once done before- after years of attempting to bury the images of that night at the bench. Nobody was there then. It was just him, Sakura, and the bloody force inside of him he had fought and won against that told him to listen to her because he was about to make the worst decision of his life.

Sasuke stared at the same pink-haired girl in front of him, years later from that moment, the two of them with the same expressions as before.

"You can't just attack me and run off like you did before." Sakura says, "Answer me."

It's not possible anymore.

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke replies quietly, "My feelings back then, too, it was all apart of the same failed past. There's nothing left of it, and there's no reason for us to feel anything towards eachother." He finishes in a defeated whisper, gently shaking off her grip on his arm.

"I never had plans to go back to you or Naruto once we return to the Shinobi world."

Sakura's heart dropped at the following silence that enveloped the room, the only sound being heard was the footsteps of the Uchiha as he exited out the hospital door without looking back. As he shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way down the empty, dimly-lit hallways of the hospital, there was only one thing weighing in his mind.

If he hadn't received the cursed mark from Orochimaru,

If the sound ninja hadn't come for him that night,

Would he have had the strength to accept that love of hers?


	12. Part XII: Aftermath

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke rushes out of the apartment upon receiving news that Sakura had been admitted into the hospital. Upon his arrival, Sakura had just finished speaking with Katsuya and Nami, where she returned the hair-ties to the little girl and gave her a few words of encouragement. As the siblings exit the room, a tight tension emerges between the two ninjas as their conversation stirs out of control and their relationship becomes as strained as ever.

 **A/N:** Thank you for the positive feedback on the last chapter! I really enjoy looking into a characters' thoughts and feelings so it was especially fun for me to do that, and I'm glad people liked it even though I know it can get boring haha.

Chapter 12 is actually a lot longer than usual- which explains why the update took so long. Hope it doesn't bore you too much! This chapter is more so focused on Sakura's point of view after what happened at the hospital.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XII: Aftermath

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* * *

The following morning was quiet. She hadn't expected anything more or less.

Uchiha Sasuke wasn't much of a speaker, but there were two types of silences that governed him overall. The type where it didn't require long, sentimental nights of talking to appreciate eachothers' comforting presence, and the kind where even though the two of you were under the same roof- you never felt so alone.

He had that kind of effect on people. Ever since their verbal altercation in the hospital, the atmosphere between them had been more of the latter. The nasty air that was present within the room that night had stalked them back to their living quarters. She noticed he had made dinner for the two of them, as promised earlier during school that day. It was left out in the open, cold, and even though he didn't touch his share that night, she ate hers. It was delicious.

Two days passed by since then. By that time, almost everybody in their class knew about the accident.

Sakura lifted her head as the subject of her troubles entered the doorway of the classroom, his gaze failing to meet hers as it usually did. Even though he was the first to leave this morning, she was surprised that he had shown up later than her. Uncanny? Probably not.

 _"And to think I once thought of accepting those feelings"_

His words that night replayed inside of her head, and every time she remembered them, her heart would thump a beat faster. That corner of his heart she always spoke about- the one he'd always deny time after time, it made her happy to think that he once thought of allowing her to fill it up a little bit more.

On the other side of the room, the Hyuuga observed as the raven-haired boy made his way inside of the class and towards his seat, with an empty spot between him and Sakura. The Uchiha placed his bag down first before exiting the class once again. The two of them were so close just now, yet they still failed to exchange any words or greetings.

"I can't handle this," Hinata groaned from afar, "It's weird- especially after knowing how Sakura feels about that guy. Why are they acting like they're from totally different universes?"

"Maybe they got into an argument.." Ino said. "Sakura-san does seem pretty-"

"No, I can't. I can't handle this." Hinata repeated as she flicked her hair behind her shoulders in frustration, turning to the blonde with nothing but seriousness in her eyes. "I'm gonna ask her what's up."

"H-Hinata wait, Actually-"

Despite her friend's unfinished warning, the girl with long hair approached the viridian-eyed girl who had been staring outside at- god knows what, ever since Sasuke left the room.

Ino followed from behind until the two of them reached the front the troubled females' desk. Without warning, Hinata slapped a strong hand on the tabletop to successfully acquire the pink-haired girls' attention. "Sakura. I want to ask you, just what the hell-"

"Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly. To Hinata's astonishment, the viridian-eyed girl seemed as cheerful as ever. She stood up from her seat to greet her two friends, giving them both shut-eye grins. "I didn't even see you guys come in, where have you been?! I've been dying to tell you two, I was walking home yesterday, and I found this really cute store on the side of- I don't remember the street, since I'm new and all, but it was this nice little place filled with cakes and peculiar treats.."

As the pink-haired girl drabbled on, the blonde and the Hyuuga began leaning into eachother on the side, keeping their eyes on their energetic friend and nodding as she continued.

"I was going to say, on the contrary," Ino whispered through the corner of her mouth, faking two nods of enthusiasm at Sakura. "Sakura-chan is a little strange herself lately, ever since the accident."

"Well, if it isn't so." Hinata hissed back, flashing a smile at the pink-haired girl.

"-So, what do you say? Maybe we can go look at it tomorrow when we go shopping with everybody. I think we'll have some free time leftover."

"Are you sure, Sakura?" Ino asked, earning a few blinks from her viridian-eyed friend. "I-I mean, yes, we would love to accompany you, but I'm saying you'll still need time to fully recover from the accident.."

"What? I'm totally fine! I'm great!" Sakura lifted an arm, wringing her shoulder up and around in circles to show great dexterity.

 _"Did you hear about the class prez?"_

 _"Yeah.. she got into some sort of accident, didn't she?"_

 _"She's a new student, too. That totally sucks, man."_

The whispers in their vicinity began to increase as Sakura let out a little sigh, attempting to shake off reminders of that day.

Personally, she didn't really think the whole thing with the accident was a big deal, but apparently it was. Hell- she didn't even know what the thing that hit her was, nor was she interested at this time. Who knew that news like this really managed to intrigue people here.

"You should've taken more time off from school.. a lot of people experience pain some time after accidents." The blonde furrowed her eyebrows with worry.

"I beg your pardon," Hinata interrupted, rolling her eyes ominously at a few people looking their way, "More like, our girl has a higher chance of developing an aneurysm just by listening to these birds yapping."

"It's really not as bad as you think." Sakura reassured, her voice hushing a bit quieter, more serious this time. "It really isn't. And besides, the festival is almost coming up. We're scheduled to work on it today as a class- I don't want to dump the whole planning process on Katsuya or anybody else. I'm the class president, after all. I chose this on my own."

"And how dutiful does that sound?" The Hyuuga sighed, giving in.

"Yo. Good to see you're still in one piece."

The two girls parted from eachother, making way for the silver-haired boy who showed himself between them from the aisle. Katsuya took some time to observe Sakura, grinning at the bandage on her forehead that was a lot more generous than the heavy wraps of blood from that day. "How you holding up?"

"Again, I'm doing fine. It's been two days, a person's body is an amazing thing. People have got to ask me something else for a change." She emphasized on the last bit, shaking her head in dismay.

"He's coming back, go ask him!"

" _You ask him_ , Ari, I'm sure he'll agree to you"

The four of them diverted their attention towards two girls adjacent of them, one with cascading, deep green hair tied up into a high ponytail and another with a loose, coffee-colored bun. Sakura watched as they appeared to conspire with one another for a brief minute before shuffling themselves towards the front of the classroom. When her gaze followed their path, she took note of the Uchiha that had just returned to the class.

The green-haired girl skipped herself over to the raven-haired boy, her skirt that was a bit too short for her long legs swaying from side to side as she bounced about. A moment later, she stopped in front of his path, earning a displeased expression from the Uchiha.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

The raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes, slowly shoving his hands in his pockets with disinterest.

"My name's Ari- I sit behind you in class."

Sasuke had yet to be humored. "No wonder I've never seen you before."

He looked away and continued to walk around her, pushing her shoulder slightly to wedge between her and the teachers podium.

"Well then, that's perfect." Ari paused before turning around to speak to his back, "-Because we can get to know eachother during this week's festival preparations. Class prez is releasing the divisions today. When that times comes, I was wondering if you actually wanted to join Mako and I for shopping. We're quite well-versed with the city, and we know the hidden gems for finding costumes and whatnot.."

The green-haired girl let out a little pout after realizing the Uchiha hadn't once stopped or looked back at her words. The girl with the bun appeared alongside of her friend, clicking her tongue and shaking her head in dismay. "Sasuke-kun seems to be in a foul mood today.. but isn't that what makes him so damn _badass?_ " She whispered feverishly.

Ari sighed, her eyes lingering at the Uchiha until he reached his seat. Unknowingly, she had also made eye contact with the pink-haired girl two desks away. After watching the two of them for brief moment, she concluded there was nothing that made her feel more ecstatic upon noticing the two friends failing to acknowledge eachother's presence.

"Come to think of it, the injured girl hasn't been around him that much lately." Ari exchanged an ominous look with Mako, "We could use this to our advantage."

The Hyuuga eyed the raven-haired boy that pulled out his chair, dropping himself down without a care or a glance in their direction. The itching feeling inside of her gave her a burning sensation, and before she knew it, she turned to the pink-haired girl in an impatient manner.

"Sakura, I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it, but I have to ask. _Did something happen between you and Sasuke?_ "

The pink-haired girl immediately frowned at the mention of the Uchiha. For a split second, she glanced at whether or not the subject of their conversation could hear them, and when he didn't, she leaned in on the Byakugan-princess with a whisper. "See, when I said to ask me about something else, I didn't mean-"

"Oi, Sakura! How you doing? By the way, what's up with you and Sasuke?" A male voice exclaimed as he approached the group from behind.

"Seriously!?" The pink-haired girl cursed, sending Shikamaru an annoyed look before lowering her voice even more. The Uchiha still hadn't looked their way. "Nothing is up, alright? We don't do everything together, and we don't have to- you know, we're separate people.."

The silver-haired boy watched with narrowed eyes as Sakura continued on, her brows furrowing as she further chastised Shikamaru, who appeared to be confused at why they were whispering in the first place. The pink-haired girl fired about, occasionally poking hard at the shadow-users arm to reprimand him. The more the they continued, the more Katsuya seemed to dismiss their words out of his hearing.

 _"Shoot," The silver-haired boy cursed, patting his pocket before stopping in his path down the hall to crouch down at his sister, who peered at him with confused eyes._

 _"Nami, I left my phone in Sakura's hospital room. Stay at the nurses' station to wait for me, okay?"_

 _His sister responded with a tiny nod, watching as Katsuya rushed himself back in the direction they had come from. Though he had been relieved to see that Sakura was okay, there was still an impending weight inside the pit of his stomach. A weight of guilt._

 _As he approached the door of her hospital room, the silver-haired boy's feet came to a complete stop as he stared at the entrance for a moment before raising his hand towards the knob._

 _"-This is what I mean. People and obscure things like bonds change."_

 _..Only to freeze in his movements._

 _"They become warped over time and in the end, you don't know what's become of them. Just like your love for me that you claim to hold onto so dearly.. if you were able to waver that easily, then I guess they were insincere after all."_

 _Sasuke?_

 _"..And to think I once thought of accepting those feelings."_

 _He couldn't see anything, but there wasn't any doubt in his mind that those were the sounds of tears from her strained voice._

 _"What did you say? Are you saying- you, towards me, in the past.."_

"Katsuya, why are you looking at me like that? Your face is drilling through my eyes. I told you- you don't have to feel bad about what happened."

The silver-haired boy blinked a few times, ridding himself of the memory of what he had heard that night as he registered Sakura's voice from the present. "Who says I feel bad?"

"There's the attitude I'm used to." She muttered under her breath before giving him an earnest smile.

"Good morning everybody. It's a fine day, though it appears we're in for some rain for the weekend."

Within a few seconds of their sensei's voice, the students that had been crowded around their claimed areas in the classroom had scattered back towards their designated seats. Kakashi made his way inside the class and towards the front, placing his briefcase down gently on the side before gripping each side of the podium and scanning the class from left to right until his gaze landed on the pink-haired girl.

"Happy to see you're fine, class president." His attention darted away from her in a second, earning a tired sigh from Sakura.

At least he didn't ask if she was doing well.

* * *

That afternoon, Sakura poked at the seaweed salad on her table in a robotic manner, clearly uninterested in the meal she had thrown together with the leftover groceries. She didn't really have too much of an appetite today- probably because from the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke sitting two seats away from her mindfully enjoying his meal by himself, just the way he liked it. On the other hand, the Hyuuga sitting across from her devoured the fried rice without holding back one bit.

Ino, on the contrary, sat at the edge of the desk on the side of the aisle, eyeing both of her friends' lunches. Hinata glanced to the side, taking note of the emptiness in front of the blonde's space.

"You on a diet or something?" She asked after swallowing down a mouthful of rice.

The blonde lifted her gaze in surprise. "N-No. It's just, I think I've forgotten my lunch at home today, that's all.."

"How forgetful of you! I'd just die if I had no lunch!"

Ino laughed sheepishly at her friend's enthusiasm. "The thing is, I'm pretty sure I grabbed it this morning before I rushed out, but-"

"-You didn't, and that's why I've suddenly became the delivery boy, _again_."

The three girls turned their heads towards Shikamaru, who had leaned over Ino's shoulder to put down a neatly packaged bento on the tabletop.

As they proceeded to exchange a few words, Sakura raised an eyebrow at the two before making eye contact with the shadow user. At this, Shikamaru scoffed. "Don't give me that look, there's nothing between this girl and I. It isn't uncommon that she'd forget her lunch at home, and our parent's being good friends means that somehow I'm always in a perfect position to be delivering it for her."

As if on cue, Ino flashed the pink-haired girl a benevolent smile. "It's like that. We've known eachother for awhile."

Sakura gave a slow nod in understanding before watching Shikamaru shuffle two seats away until he placed his own lunch on the Uchiha's desk. Sasuke sat, leaned back in his chair casually as he took silent, clean bites from his own food with Chouji across from him.

Hinata rolled her eyes and sighed. " _Cute_. In that case, why are we all so far apart? Come join us over here then."

Viridian eyes met with dark orbs for a split second.

"Hah, it's harder to move our desks over to you- we're smack in the center! You guys can come here, I'm sure Katsuya won't mind someone taking over his spot."

At this, Hinata and Ino gave eachother a nod, raising at the same time while scrambling their lunches together. Just then, a sharp screech of a chair sliding against the floor rung into the air as the group of friends diverted their attention towards the Sasuke, who had stood abruptly before catching Shikamaru's questionable look.

"I'm going to eat in the courtyard."

"Wait, Sasuke-"

Before the shadow user could reach out to him, the raven-haired boy had disappeared out of the classroom without another word. The pink-haired girl lowered her head a bit further and took a slow bite of her salad.

"What's with him?" Chouji muttered.

At this, Hinata and Ino looked at eachother once more, exchanging glances of suspicion. Suddenly, their attention shifted towards the person entering the doorway of the class carrying a bag of food. The two of them nodded at eachother in understanding before turning to Sakura and the others.

"We'll be back."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, though she gave a nod in return before her friends shuffled themselves towards Katsuya, who didn't get a chance to arrive at his seat before Hinata had harshly grabbed his wrist with a blazing fire in her eyes. She earned a confused expression from the silver-haired boy as he darted his gaze towards his desk, then back to the Hyuuga who had already pulled him out of the door and subsequently into the corner of a nearby hallway with Ino following closely from behind.

Before Katsuya could even put something on his face other than a nonchalant expression, the Byakugan princess shot her hand out in front of her, planting a strong palm on the wall behind the silver-haired boy, preventing him from further movement.

Katsuya appeared unamused. "Isn't this supposed to be the other way arou-"

"YOU!" She suddenly bellowed, causing him to seal his lips shut and flinch his head back until it was flat with the wall. "You were there with Sakura at the time of her accident, right?"

At this, the boy with ocean eyes had yet to respond. He instead noted from the side, Ino, who stood beside Hinata wearing an expression that looked like she didn't have any intention on helping him out. He darted his gaze back to the Hyuuga, who continued to stare at him with strong resolve.

"The thing is," she took his silence as affirmation to her question, "Our girl Sakura and ya boy Uchiha don't seem like they're getting along lately. Which is strange to us because being two small-town childhood friends and all, you would think he'd care a little bit more after an accident like that."

"Well, it's not really-"

"He _did_ go see her in the hospital, right? He had to have, right? I mean they moved here together, she's only met us at the beginning of the year and doesn't know anybody else. If Ino and I knew, we would've- anyways, main point is, we just want to know if something happened between the two of them."

Katsuya fell silent for a moment, remembering part of the conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. "I don't know what happened with them- and it's not any of our business." He responded flatly.

At this, Hinata sighed, leaning into him further with narrowed eyes. "Listen here. Don't think I'll go easy on you just because your face is a little pretty."

From that moment, two girls started down the other end of the hallway, unaware of what they were about to hear around the corner.

"Do you think Sasuke-kun will join us on the weekend?"

"I don't know, Mako, but if anything-"

"Shh!"

The girl with the bun raised a finger at her friend's lips, pulling the green-haired girl to the side upon hearing familiar voices at the surrounding side.

"-There's a lot more to those two than you'd think." Hinata continued, "I'm just concerned about Sakura. She might be acting like nothing is bothering her, but you know, she's a girl after all, and a woman's heart is sensitive at times like these. So I'm sure that idiot Sasuke must've said something to her to make her upset! Why else would they be so weird around eachother?"

Katsuya stared at the Hyuuga as if he were contemplating. The Uchiha's words that night continued to ring inside of his head, though he wasn't fully aware of the context. Ever since then, he couldn't help but feel that their relationship must've been a lot more complicated than he'd thought. _But what kind of a guy makes a girl cry like that?_ After a few seconds, he sighed.

"He visited her." Katsuya started as fast as he finished, "But I don't know what happened."

As Hinata opened her mouth to speak, a loud ringing bellowed into their ears signifying the end of lunch hour. Immediately, Hinata retracted the silver-haired boy from her cage, giving him a stare of disbelief before coming out of the corner with Ino. Katsuya appeared a few seconds later as Ari and Mako watched the three of them trail themselves back to the classroom. The girl with the bun turned her head to look at her friend, who reciprocated her amusement with a smirk.

* * *

The Hyuuga and blonde sped themselves back towards the class, walking as fast as they could before sliding the door open and trickling themselves inside. Katsuya followed from behind soon after, noting the pink-haired girl who had already positioned herself at the front podium, her expression chastising him for being late. A moment later, he joined her side silently, taking a quick scan at the classroom to note the Uchiha already sitting disgruntled in his seat.

"Alright, then." Sakura took in breath, flashing a smile as she nervously gripped the sides of the podium. "Now that everybodys here, I think we can get started."

The viridian-eyed girl paused to take a long, hard breath. She had mentally practiced what to say earlier on by the time she got up here, but right now, all she could think about was the fact that it seems that she's attracted a lot more attention than she'd originally planned ever since arriving here. Then again, she was never really a shy person, not since when she was only a kid anyways. Why did being in a mundane world and carrying out a simple job like this make her feel so small?

"So the festival is coming up soon, and I have some things to talk about today." She continued despite her worries, taking a moment to furrow her brows at two girls who giggled meaninglessly at eachother as she spoke, "As discussed previously, we'll be split into groups for shopping tomorrow. Today I'll be assigning divisions for us in preparation for our _ninja cafe_ , so it's ideal that you should stick to the people in your division."

A series of nods followed after her opening statement. After looking at Katsuya, who grinned in affirmation, she took the sheet of paper he held out into her hands and placed it onto the space in front of her.

"Katsuya and I have created different divisions for the planning process. We'll be splitting the groups into decorating committee, baking, costume.. and we'll talk more in-depth about your roles afterwards. Each group will take turns switching off for serving. In that case, I'll just go ahead and read out the groups."

She breathed out a tiny sigh and quickly scanned the list.

"So since a lot of you didn't express a preference.. for the decorating committee, I've got Ariko, Ritsu, Kyo, Honda, Taki… for baking, we have Yoshimura, Ari, Mako, Fujiwara, Yamada. Costume group will be myself, Katsuya, Ino, Hinata, Sasuke, Chouji-"

"Um, excuse me"

Sakura lifted her head towards a passively raised hand, eyeing the chocolate bun-haired girl.

"Actually, Ari-chan and I aren't very good at baking.."

"It's fine, we're planning on following a recipe anyways, and Ariko-chan is very good at-"

"It's really not that convenient for us, if you know what I mean. Don't you have anything else available?" The green haired girl spoke up from the other side of the class, twiddling a strand of her ponytail with her finger in a idly.

Sakura frowned at the hostility. "No, I don't. Everybody has already been designated for something specific- and the two of you never said anything the other day when I asked if anybody had any preferences for a specific division. If you had any concerns, you should've told me about it sooner."

"-Well then, if it's really that difficult for you then allow me to give you a hand. Why don't Mako-chan and I just join the costume committee? It seems like your group may need a bit more help than the rest.. I mean.." Ari nearly scoffed under her breath, pausing her gaze at Sakura. "We all know you've been in a _pretty bad accident_ a few days ago. You probably won't be too useful at this time."

At this, the pink-haired girl gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the podium. It might not've been apparent to the rest of the class, she sure as hell knew what this girls' real intention was. Even an idiot could tell by the way these two girls approached the Uchiha earlier on in the day. The Byakugan princess sitting behind the green-haired girl made eye contact with Ino, who looked apprehensive herself.

"Oh! Don't take it the wrong way." Ari pressed her fingertips to her lips in sarcastic shock, "I'm thinking in the best interest of our festival contribution, and of course about your health, class prez. That's all. We don't want you to overwork yourself now, do we?"

Katsuya observed Sakura from the corner of his eye, watching for her reaction. The rest of the class remained in passive silence, and from the other side of the class, the Uchiha appeared more alert at the sudden shift of atmosphere.

"You don't have a _single thing_ to be worried about." Sakura grinned with narrowed eyes, "If you want to be in the costume committee that badly, then just find two of us to switch with."

"Hm. Okay." Ari turned her head away in a petty manner and continued to fiddle with her hair. Mako had also removed herself from this matter quietly.

"Great, thanks for your cooperation." Sakura said dismissively, turning her head back to the class in a nonchalant manner despite her rising annoyance. Oh, if these girls were Shinobi.. "Then, let's get into our assigned groups right now and start discussing things to look for when we head out tomorrow. We'll bring these ideas back to the class on Monday to get a good idea of how everything is going to come together."

As she dismissed her announcement, a series of chatter began to slowly envelop the classroom once again while students began crowding into their respective groups. Sakura sighed, closing her eyes in relief. When she opened them back up a few seconds later, two of her friends had quickly approached her at the front.

"Sakura, those two were making direct attacks at you back there." Hinata whispered harshly, Ino nodding madly in agreement.

"I know." The pink-haired girl agreed, noticing the sharp stares of the two girls from the back of the class.

"Just ignore them, it's not worth it." Sakura muttered under her breath. _I don't need to have this kind of battle with people here._

When she looked behind her friends, she saw that the Uchiha had also began making his way towards the front.

As Sasuke approached her group with Chouji and Shikamaru following closely from behind, Katsuya made eye contact with him for a brief second before the two of them diverted their attention elsewhere.

"So, costumes." Chouji re-emphasized, planting himself to sit on top of the desk facing the podium. "I assume our budget isn't very big?"

"That's right," The silver-haired boy responded. "Though I assume we won't be needing anything extraordinary. I don't think our budget allows for everybody to wield their own swords and sheaths."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be." Sakura chimed in, switching up the mood. "The clothing can be as simple as dark robes to fishnets... if you want to look distinctly like ninjas, you can wear a mask."

"Okay, sounds like you really know your stuff, prez." Hinata said in amusement, earning a sheepish look from the pink-haired girl. "Is there anything else we should keep in mind specifically?"

A moment of silence followed the Hyuuga's question as the group pondered to themselves.

"Headbands"

Another long pause occurred as the group members eyed the pink-haired girl and then at the Uchiha, who had been in sync with her response. Sakura refused to turn her head in his direction, but she saw from the corner of her eye that he undoubtedly didn't wish to do so either.

"You seem to be a great advocator for ninja headbands." Katsuya says, poking fun at the pink-haired girl.

Sakura turned a shade of red. "I just think it's really important for ninjas to have one."

"Well, where can we get those? It's not everyday you see those in stores. Hell- what do they even look like?"

"Nevermind, it's fine if we can't do it."

The Uchiha noted the falling expression on the viridian-eyed girl.

"On another note!" Shikamaru exclaimed, "I know we actually have a few materials lying around in the storage room here at school. If so, we won't need to buy that much tomorrow. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei wouldn't mind if we borrowed some for clothing."

"That sounds great," Sakura grins, "Then, if one of us could-"

"I'll go check." Sasuke darted, immediately withdrawing himself from the group after receiving a nod of affirmation from his friend. Sakura's smile slowly faded, though she quickly regained it as he disappeared out the door.

"Th-Then, let's talk more about the clothing."

From the other side of the room, two girls grinned at eachother in amusement, revelling in the sight of the estranged pair of friends. At this, Ari gave a nod at Mako, who returned a look in both understanding and agreement before the two of them excused themselves from their division and made their way towards the front.

As the pair parted their way past Chouji, who gave them a narrow-eyed stare as Mako pushed his arm away from their path in the aisle, Sakura's attention shifted towards Ari, who stopped right in front of the podium so that the two of them were now directly in front of eachother.

The green-haired girl crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side with a smirk. "Sakura.. I really hope you didn't take to heart what I said earlier."

Hinata nearly scoffed at this statement, although the pink-haired girl appeared to remain undisturbed. "I didn't, really."

"Oh, but I really meant it when I said I was worried about you. Shouldn't you be resting at home still?"

"It really is none of your concern, thanks though." Sakura spoke flatly, raising her chin slightly.

"Is that so? It's difficult making a good recovery from accidents.. especially when there are other things going on at the same time." Ari continued, widening her smirk. "Come to think of it, it appears that you and Sasuke-kun don't seem to be very friendly with eachother right now. A fight between newcomers? or lovers?"

At the mention of the Uchiha, Sakura froze despite maintaining her apathetic expression. From the side, Ino looked at Hinata worriedly, while Katsuya gritted his teeth at the new situation.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that either- you and Sasuke-kun are _nothing_ of that sort, after all. In fact, he doesn't seem to respond to you very well despite you two being- what was it, neighbours or something?"

"Again, that's none of your business."

"So its true? That you two had a fight?"

Sakura pursed her lips, and Katsuya noticed that she began clenching the podium a little bit tighter.

"I just don't see it though, are the two of you really childhood friends or whatever?" Ari spoke in a high-pitched tone, Mako grinning by her side. "You know, normal childhood friends would at least _pretend_ like they like to stick around eachother, but for you two, it seems like he's just fed up with being followed around."

The Hyuuga felt her temper rise. "Okay, look here you-"

"-I can just imagine how _tiring_ that can be for him, am I wrong? Knowing that, I just feel bad for Sasuke-kun, seeing as he really doesn't seem to bother with someone like you. No matter how anybody sees it.. in the end, aren't you just any another fangirl in his life? You can't really force it, if there's no chemistry going on between two people.." Ari wallowed in the viridian-eyed girls' silence, "Sasuke-kun, probably coming from a kempt, well-brought up family.. someone like him is going to go far in life. Do you really think you'll be able to follow his footsteps like this forever?"

Ino furrowed her brows in concern, talking a step closer to the pink-haired girl who didn't seem to move an inch. "Sakura-"

"-don't you think he'd just suffer a whole lot that way?"

From the hallway leading up to the classroom, the raven-haired boy strolled back towards the class, his hands shoved in his pockets apathetically. As he inched near the doorway, he paused just before going in upon hearing loud murmurs regarding the commotion at the front of the room. Something about an altercation?

What he didn't expect was that, the moment he peered into the class, Ari had let out a loud yelp as the viridian-eyed girl charged from behind the podium towards the green-haired girl, grabbing a giant fist of her collar and shoving her against the nearest desk with a thud. Mako had stumbled onto the floor from being pushed aside, staring up at her friend who was only a few inches away from Sakura, gaping at her with an opened mouth and widened eyes. At that moment, the entire class had fallen silent at the sudden commotion, Sakura's two best friends immediately ringing themselves around her vicinity.

"Talk about me all you want, but what exactly do you think you know about his suffering?" Sakura loomed into the green-haired girl in a low, angry whisper.

"Don't you dare for a second pretend like you know him."

Sasuke watched as his comrade raised a tight fist back, his own eyes widening as she held its position for a few seconds before getting ready to aim straight at the frightened girl leaning back on the desk.

Instinctively, his feet shuffled a few steps towards her, ready to charge at the scene. However, he found himself frozen in place from further movement as a silver-haired boy appeared by her side instead, grasping her fist in his hand before she could direct her strength at the frightened girl.

"Sakura. Stop."

The pink-haired girl took a few shuddering breaths in attempt to cease her racing pulse, and by then she was sure Katsuya could feel her shaking from her fist planted in his palm. Ari continued to hold her breath, undaring enough to move. She waited a few moments later until Sakura had slowly backed away enough for her to safely ease herself away from the desk.

"Let's go." Katsuya released his grip on the pink-haired girl, grasping her wrist instead and pulling her out of the class whose students had witnessed the scene. Sakura couldn't find the strength in her to fight back.

As the two of them darted towards the door, the Uchiha retreated himself to the side and watched as they scurried towards the other end of the hallway.

When they reached a nearby staircase, Katsuya brought her down to the second level, Sakura following lifelessly from behind. The two of them eventually stopped in the middle as he let go of her wrist, turning to look at her face.

The sight he saw made his heart drop down to his stomach. Sakura didn't say a single word, but instead lifted her hands to cover her face that was already wet with silent tears. At this, Katsuya rested his furrowed brows, giving her a moment before slowly taking a step towards her and reached a hand around her back, pulling her into his chest.

"And to think you said you didn't have any feelings for that guy." He says in a quiet whisper, to which he didn't receive anything in return but tiny whimpers.

The two of them stood like this for awhile, with no words following his last statement. From the stairs above, Sasuke quietly listened to her silent sobs.

* * *

"What the _hell_ was that girl's problem? Are you sure you're okay?"

Mako continued to hug her friend close to her side with an arm around her shoulder, the rest of the class filled with urgent whispers and ardent chatter. After sending the audience a sharp look, diverting their nosy eyes away, Ari stood upright, arms crossed with a blank expression.

"I'm fine." She responds in a low tone, "If anything, it would've been her fault for laying a hand on me."

The girl with the bun nodded in agreement. " _Of course._ She wouldn't be able to get away with something like that. We don't have anything to apologize to her for. Did you see how rattled her little ass was?"

"Mhm." Ari nodded in return.

"Ari, was it?"

The green-haired girl turned her attention towards the person who said her name, her eyes widening to see the voice belonging to Sasuke, standing before them. For a split second, a wave of fear began growing inside of her chest.

"Sasuke-kun? What-"

"I'll join your division instead."

The two girls looked at one another, sharing expressions of disbelief. They looked at the Uchiha once again, waiting until he spoke further.

Sasuke simply stared at them in annoyance for their lack of understanding. "I'm saying I'll be joining your division tomorrow when we go into the city. There isn't a problem with that, right?"

At this, the two girls found themselves slowly nodding their heads up and down, approving of his request. After witnessing their response, the Uchiha turned around to exit the room with no further inquiries.

"What did I tell you?" Ari says with a grin, "It seems I was right about them after all."


	13. Part XIII: From the Shadows

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sakura returns to school after the accident with her and Sasuke still on awkward terms. She runs into trouble with two girls she hadn't really bothered with until they started making assumptions about her the raven-haired boy. After being stopped from what could've been a harmful mistake, Katsuya comforts the pink-haired girl from her emotional stress. Sasuke, on the other hand, decides to take matters into his own hands.

 **A/N:** Happy belated holidays everybody, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Yes, it looks like I was well due for a new chapter. Thanks to those who started prompting me for updates, I've mustered up all my power to get this chapter done yesterday!

On a sidenote, part of the reason why updates have been slow is because I'm a bit conflicted with the direction that I want this story to take. I have a few ideas in mind. As I ponder this further, I hope you all will continue to be patient with me as you already have been ; v;

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XIII: From the Shadows

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* * *

The raven-haired boy took small, generous bites of his buttered toast as he sat at the edge of the kitchen bar in silence. The hard pattering of rain struck madly against the balcony window of their apartment suite- the first of September in Tokyo. He didn't particularly mind the company of its rhythmic noise, as if it were begging for entry. After all, it was the sounds of these raindrops that kept him mentally sane when he hopped from one cave to another, away from any signs of life other than his own and the few people he let near him.

Suddenly, he heard the quiet turning of a doorknob, and from that he knew Sakura was about to come out of her room; either to join him for breakfast or to simply have a drink of milk like she had been for the past few days.

His back was turned to her, but he could hear from the sound of her soft footsteps that she was making way towards his vicinity. He continued to chew on the remaining pieces of food in in his mouth, forgotten that he had stopped, as she walked into the kitchen area. When she finally appeared, she failed to make eye contact with him, but he watched as she slowly reached for the metal fridge handle. Milk again, today.

"When are you leaving?"

At the sound of his serene voice, she seemed to pause for a brief second before gently placing the jug on the counter and popping the lid open. "Probably soon. It should only take a few minutes for us to get to the square."

"Aa."

A pregnant pause enveloped the air, one that seemed to last an eternity as he listened to the milk hitting the bottom of her glass.

"I've decided to join the baking division for today."

At this, Sakura placed the jug back down in an abrupt manner, turning her head back to give the Uchiha a hard stare. "What?"

"I said I've joined the baking division." He repeated monotonously.

The pink-haired girl displayed a visible frown at his words, remembering the explicit wishes of the two girls from yesterday. "Sasuke, we've already discussed what we were going to get for today, as a group. Remember? "

"It doesn't really make a difference, Sakura." The Uchiha darted his eyes to meet her viridian orbs, "And by the looks of it, the baking committee will need some help."

At this, the pink-haired girl opened her mouth to speak, but nothing seemed to come out of her mouth. Instead, the two of them held their gaze for a minute too long before she forcefully tore her eyes away.

"Fine." Sakura whispered dismissively, walking further away from him to grab the blazer that rested on the couch. His gaze didn't follow as she then started towards the door, pulling it open from its handle. She paused before exiting the apartment, turning her head slightly.

"I never expected you to bend over backwards for me.. but at times like these, I would've thought working together meant you'd have my back a little."

As he heard the shutting of the door, the Uchiha lifted his head and eyed the entrance, then at the kitchen area where everything was back in place before Sakura had entered the room. In that moment, the sound of the rain quickly registered back into his senses as he swallowed down the last of his breakfast.

* * *

The pink-haired girl took small, quick strides down the crosswalk once the green sign showed up on the other side. Her eyes darted in all directions, noticing children holding their mother's hand and adults in all-black clothing clutching square cases.

Her heart was racing, and she swore her legs were trembling from the unsettled feeling inside of her chest. The more she thought about it, the more she began to doubt herself. _What did I really expect from him? Was he really going to openly take my side over something as trivial as that? Would that make me happy?_ Sakura winced, _Even if he knew the way those girls were speaking, he wouldn't let what they said affect our goal._

The viridian-eyed girl closed her eyes, sighing in defeat. No, the problem they had was much bigger than this. _They were mainly attacking me, anyways. It'd be a miracle if he even so much as to blink an eye towards that._

"Sakura! Over here!"

The pink-haired girl looked up ahead, realizing she had reached the rendezvous area down at Tokyo square. She wore the most sincere smile she could put on her face as she approached Hinata and Ino, who waited for her eagerly while the three male members sat themselves down at a tiny cement seating area surrounding a large tree in the center.

"Sakura, it's pouring rain out here! Get under this umbrella!" The Hyuuga waved her hand frantically, urging her friend to get under the polka-dotted umbrella she held in the other.

At this, Sakura nodded, and as she scurried herself under she could not believe she had left the apartment so fast that she'd totally forgotten that it was pissing rain today. She turned to the side, sending a grin towards the two boys and then at Katsuya, who nodded back.

"You made it," Shikamaru smiled at the pink-haired girl, then raised an eyebrow as he scanned their vicinity. "I thought Sasuke was coming with you?"

"Oh" Sakura's eyes dimmed slightly, almost at a loss for words. "No.. It seems that he's decided to join the baking division for today."

"He _what!?_ " Hinata and Ino exclaimed in unison while Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged confused glances. Katsuya looked at Sakura for further reaction, furrowing his brows in displeasure.

"Whatever, leave him be." The pink-haired girl whispered after taking a small breath, "He can just do whatever he wants."

Her two friends looked at one another, hesitant to make any comments in fear of validating what the two girls in the class had said about her and Sasuke's relationship.

"On another note," Hinata cocked her head to the side, changing the atmosphere. "Why are you wearing your school uniform on a Saturday?"

"What?" Sakura widened her eyes, shifting her gaze down towards her body to glance at her blazer and skirt, taking note of a little juice stain she had failed to notice earlier. She then darted her eyes towards the rest of the group, suddenly realizing that her classmates were wearing different clothes than they did at school. Instead of their usual uniforms, the group wore stylish long coats and the girls had long, rubber-like boots with strange patterns on them.

"Oi, Sakura.." Shikamaru suddenly gasped, subsequently falling into a tiny whisper. "Could it be that you.."

"Shikamaru!" Ino chastised, shoving his arm.

At this, Sakura raised an eyebrow, trying her best to read the strange atmosphere.

"Sakura, if you need help.." Hinata placed a gentle hand on the pink-haired girls' shoulder, tilting her head down discreetly. "You know.. with financial issues.. my father knows a guy."

The viridian-eyed girl blinked twice before turning beet red, shaking her head madly in denial. "No! You guys! I'm perfectly fine, you know, just thought it'd be more comfortable for me to wear what I always wear.." _Honestly, though.. At this rate I wouldn't mind_ _taking her up on that offer._

The others continued to shoot her looks of disbelief, though their expressions quickly resumed back to normal. "Should we get going then? There's a fabric place nearby." Chouji suggested, pointing in a direction opposite of where they faced.

After unanimous agreement, the group started themselves towards the area of indication, each splitting off into pairs to share umbrellas. Before the viridian-eyed girl even thought to follow them from behind, she turned her head slightly behind her shoulder, glancing in the direction of the apartment.

"Sakura?"

The viridian-eyed girl blinked out of her daze before realizing she had been absent-minded for a moment too long. As she darted her gaze back up ahead, she watched as Katsuya stood a few metres away from her, holding his umbrella out to urge her forward.

As she followed his prompt and slowly walked towards him, the two of them started down the street behind the others in a slow pace before engaging in small conversation. When she began chastising him for a witty comment about her uniform, she had almost forgotten why she looked back in the first place.

* * *

The Uchiha shifted his eyes from one corner to the next, scanning the colorful aisles of a tiny store his group had entered a few minutes ago. He didn't care too much to note what kind of a store it was, but there were too many frilly things and far too much stimuli for him to appreciate.

Tailing behind him were Ari and Mako, who both enthusiastically pointed and commented on items along the aisle. The last time Sasuke had checked, they each carried a basket full of things- but more so things that had nothing to do with the festival such as makeup and scarves. From this, he assumed they gave less of a crap about the festival and this shopping mission than he did.

"Look who I see"

"Oh, it's class prez."

The Uchiha slowly came to a halt, his ears perking as he registered the topic of the pink-haired girl.

"Just want to say that I absolutely knew that she and Sasuke-kun were all talk. The two of them are on totally different calibers!"

"Shh, what if he hears us?"

"I don't think it matters, it's not like he really cares anyway."

The raven-haired boy remained still for a moment before shifting his gaze to the side at the section of the aisle with mirrors, watching reflections of the outside of the store where people walked about on the sidewalk. Four friends strode past the place in engaged conversation, laughing at something they found funny. Subsequently, his attention darted towards two people a few steps ahead of them, a blob of pink walking in a quick stride alongside silver locks. She too was laughing, occasionally turning back at her friends to exchange a few words before looking back up ahead.

 _"I don't understand why you always have to push me away like this."_

It wasn't until her presence had completely disappeared around the corner that he had blinked and the world was back to normal.

"Sasuke-kun, red or purple?"

The Uchiha turned his head slightly further to gaze behind him, and then at the two cupcake liners Mako held in either palm. He stared at the options with great disinterest before finally giving a tiny shrug and moving himself farther away from the two girls.

Glancing at either side of the new aisle he was in, he continued to wallow in the fact that he didn't actually care too much about what he was looking at. In fact, the more he walked, the more the image of Sakura and her friends walking together etched deeper into his mind. Just how far away was he from something like that?

Suddenly, he remembered their entire fight in the hospital- something he had been trying to keep his mind off of for the past few days.

Just then, the raven-haired boy came to a pause in his tracks, re-skimming what had caught his eye on the left side of the aisle. Below various shelves of mundane items were shiny, silk-like fabric that ranged from the lightest to darkest shades of all colors.

As he took a step closer to the items, he crouched down to a squat, reaching a hand slowly to give the material a gentle touch. Up close, he could see that it was a thick, fine silk that gave off of a shiny, rich color under the light. Another image of the pink-haired girl came to mind, and the look on her face when she enthusiastically mentioned the request for headbands.

"What do you need that for, Sasuke-kun?"

Ari's voice pierced through the Uchiha's thoughts, though he hadn't moved an inch to acknowledge her presence. A short pause followed her question, and finally, he stood up, taking a moment to scan the rest of the contents in the same aisle. He noticed several different types of fabric samples plastered on the shelves, in addition to various beads and lace of all sizes. After a moment, he let out a tiny breath.

"I'm getting some of these."

Ari glanced around the aisle for a moment, appearing confused. "Why do you need a bunch of-" She stopped, her expression turning into a slow grin. "Sasuke-kun, could it be you know how to make clothes?"

"How adorable is that?" Mako whispered with a giggle into Ari's ear, in which the two of them then exchanged excited smiles. The Uchiha remained silent at their unintelligent remarks.

Suddenly, one of them had latched themselves onto his arm, burying their chest into the sleeve of his blazer in an invasive manner. Ari looked up at the raven-haired man, grinning flirtatiously. "Actually, Sasuke-kun, we don't normally wear our uniforms out on weekends.." She played with the cuff of his sleeve, "If you're looking for any fabric or clothes in general.. I know this nice store on the other side of the street and I think their things will suit you handsomely. The fabric here is a bit pricey."

At this, the Uchiha appeared to contemplate this for a moment, then gave a tiny smile, one that caught the green-haired girl off guard as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and gently removed it from his side. "Is that so? That'd be nice."

"R-Really?" Ari looked back at Mako, who held her breath with a grin.

"However," Sasuke reached and grabbed a few more colors of fabric, eyeing some materials on the farther side of the aisle. "I'll still be getting some of these."

"That's fine. Anything you need, Sasuke-kun."

The Uchiha took the next few minutes to gather a bunch of items and placed them into a separate basket. A moment later, the three of them reached the counter where he observed the conveyer belt, watching as the cashier scanned their items one by one. Ari and Mako waited at the end of the cash aisle with their finished bags as the old man at the registered pushed up his glasses and took a look at Sasuke's total.

The raven-haired boy reached into his pocket, but instead of pulling out his wallet, he shoved his hand around for a few seconds with an expression of growing discontent.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Mako appeared by his side.

The Uchiha took a breath. "It seems l've left my wallet at home."

"I guess you're a little forgetful sometimes aren't you? That's cute." Ari showed up, giving him a tiny wink. "Don't worry, Mako and I can cover for you for today."

At this, the raven-haired boy remained nonchalant. "It's expensive."

"No, she's absolutely right. What's a little money here and there?" Mako agreed.

With this, the two girls pulled out a few bills and handed them towards the old-man, who quickly placed them into the register and handed them a receipt. Sasuke didn't may any further comments as the three of them picked up their shopping bags and moved on to the next store.

* * *

"Chiffon or suede? Pastel or bold?"

The Hyuuga wrung two different shirts in either hand, pulling each option up for the pink-haired girl to see.

"Hinata, I don't really need this." Sakura sighed, rubbing the side of her head as she slouched further into the couch. They had been in this department store, _sidetracked_ , for way too long. Specifically in front of the women's dressing area.

"So you're planning on advertising our school for the rest of your life?" The Byakugan-princess rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the blonde beside her. "Ino, thoughts?"

"Well, I kind of think pastel would suit Sakura-chan more.." Ino cocked her head to the side, scanning the sheer white chiffon blouse in her friend's hand.

"Guys, seriously." Sakura groaned, "We're here to find some fabric."

"Stop fretting, girl. We've got the rest of the day."

"Are you sure? Cause I think the guys here tend to disagree." The pink-haired girl pointed a finger at the loveseat couch beside her, the two boys yawning and looking as if they were watching paint dry. Katsuya sat on the single seat across from Sakura, appearing just as dull as they are. As the shadow user were about to let out another loud yawn, he stopped midway when a presence at the entrance of the department section caught his attention.

"Oi, is that Sasuke?"

At the mention of the raven-haired boy, Sakura froze from all movement, feeling her heart drop down to her stomach. She was the only one who refused to look in the direction everybody was now looking.

"Look at those two, they made an entire fuss about changing groups but they seem to be _pleasantly happy_ over there."

Hearing the judgment in Hinata's voice, the pink-haired girl slowly turned her head back, enough to see her companion walking in with Ari and Mako on either side of him. The two girls seemed to be bouncing about happily, pointing at different things in a bubbly manner. On the other hand, Sasuke didn't look bothered by their antics in the slightest. She didn't know which made her feel worse.

From across her, the silver-haired boy once again noted her dimmed expression. After a few seconds, she resumed her normal face and re-engaged in conversation with Hinata about a choice of shirt, gaining sudden interest. He then darted his gaze towards the Uchiha, who nonchalantly strode towards a random section of the store.

In the next second, Katsuya dismissed himself from the group before slinking away from his friends and in the direction of the raven-haired boy.

He took quick, nimble steps as he hunted down the area where Sasuke had gone. After coming to a corner where a group of shoppers were just leaving, he spotted him scanning a few materials on the wall of the aisle, alone.

Without further reservations, Katsuya walked until he had approached the Uchiha up close and came to a firm stop. At this, Sasuke turned his head to the side to acknowledge his presence, though his expression remained seemingly unsurprised.

"What are you doing?" The silver-haired boy hissed impatiently.

"Shopping."

"You know those girls had it out for Sakura yesterday, right?"

At this, Sasuke gave him a cold stare. "What's it to you?"

Katsuya took a second to himself, narrowing his eyes offensively. "What's it to _me_? More like what's it to _you_?" He hissed through gritted teeth, "They were saying some pretty nasty things about her- about _you_ , and I'm having a hard time accepting the idea that the whole class has been gossiping about this yet you pretend like you haven't heard or decided to acknowledge it at all."

The two of them continued to hold electrifying gazes before Katsuya continued.

"Look, even a five-year old can tell that Sakura has feelings for you. You're an intelligent person, and I can tell that she doesn't like to be read like a book, but we all know this and I'd assume she deserves better from you if you know it too. So tell me, are you even considering her feelings at all in the _slightest_?"

"Again, what's it to you?" The Uchiha retorted in growing irritation. He turned so that his entire body was now facing the silver-haired boy, taking a single step closer and leaning himself in to give him another hard stare.

"I don't need to hear this from the guy who's responsible for why she got hurt in the first place. If you're saying I should find the heart to reciprocate her feelings a little, then you've got the wrong idea because that's not what she wants from me at this moment and I can't give it to her." The raven-haired boy said in a low tone, taking the silver-haired boy by surprise. After a moment, Sasuke's expression changed, almost as if it had loosened a bit before continuing.

"Sakura isn't someone who needs half-hearted feelings, and a person like her doesn't deserve it either. So stop acting like you know her."

 _"Don't you dare for a second pretend like you know him."_

At this, Katsuya widened his eyes, remembering Sakura's words when she told the girls off in the classroom. In this very moment, he felt an uncanny sense of a strong barrier, one that only left him on the outside while it protected the two from deep within. There was world with just the two of them that nobody could've seen.

The two boys continued to glare at eachother with unwavering eyes. It wasn't until the Uchiha's gaze moved to behind the silver-haired boy that Katsuya knew his friends had been looking for him. In a split second, black eyes met with sea-green ones and locked together instantly as he registered her half-surprised expression.

The rest of the group walked up to Sakura, quickly taking in the stance of the two confronting boys. After a few seconds, Shikamaru pushed himself up towards them.

"Sasuke!" The shadow-user greeted his friend as Katsuya retreated back to let him through, making a slow linger of eye contact with Uchiha before tearing himself away despite his inattentiveness. "Man, I heard you went and joined another group, so its true huh? What are you guys looking for here? I thought you were in the baking division."

Instead of paying attention to the shadow user right in front of him, he continued to lock gazes with the pink-haired girl.

"Did you guys need me for something?" Katsuya says, stopping in front of Sakura, who blinked several times before diverting her attention towards the silver-haired boy.

"I-uh," She started, "We were just looking for some fabric."

"Why don't we go elsewhere?"

Sasuke watched as Katsuya's hand slowly lifted from the side of his body to Sakura's arm, causing him to look away in an ignorant manner.

"Sasuke-kun! There you are!"

The group watched as Ari and Mako approached the scene, their faces going from happy-go-lucky to immediately defensive upon noticing the giant group.

"We found a few clothes that we think you'd might like." Ari stated, sending the group a fierce glance. At this, Hinata took a step forward, gritting her teeth. Chouji placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her movement.

"After this, we can go to this really nice restaurant that just opened up." Mako added, focusing on the Uchiha. "You must be hungry after all that shopping."

At this, Sakura diverted her gaze away, giving a tiny sigh in irritation.

After a moment of silence and chatter from the two girls on the other side, the three of them including Sasuke had started their way past Shikamaru and towards the exit.

Sakura's friends reluctantly made way for them, though she found herself remaining frozen in place as he got closer and closer until he was finally within her vicinity. Just as he was about to pass her, he paused the moment their shoulders were adjacent from eachother.

The air was stagnant for a second, with no one speaking a word except for the sound of a lady calling for another cash on the speaker from above.

"There isn't any good fabric here." The Uchiha glanced to the side and spoke after the voice had disappeared.

Another wave of a cold silence ensued before Sasuke reverted his attention back up ahead and continued his walk. The pink-haired girl remained paused in place for a moment before turning back to her friends, then at Katsuya.

"Well, let's look somewhere else then."

* * *

"I hope you enjoyed that meal, Sasuke-kun. Did you have Italian food from where you came from?"

At Ari's question, the Uchiha glanced around the street as if he had something better to pay attention to. He held two large shopping bags with one hand, one that contained a bunch of materials from the first store they were in and another full of strange clothes he had nonchalantly picked out at the department store just now. His other hand held a large umbrella- one that was able to cover the three of them altogether. How unfortunate.

But really, part of him was thinking whether or not he talked too much earlier. That guy was too nosy.

When he failed to reply their question, the two girls looked at eachother and shrugged, continuing on with their walk.

"I'm actually quite curious about you, Sasuke-kun. You don't seem to talk about yourself much. Usually, Mako and I end up knowing everything about the new ones.."

Sasuke was still unamused by their curiosity.

"It must've been irritating for you to run into the prez earlier."

The Uchiha felt his jaw tighten for a moment. For the first time in the past few minutes, he spoke. "Why would I be irritated?"

At this, the two girls paused for a second before continuing. "Well, it's obvious but you don't really seem like you like being around her all that much. I'm sure you're aware of it, but you've become pretty popular ever since the two of you transferred here."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

Ari blinked, wary of his defensive tone. "W-Well, I'm just saying a lot people here think pretty highly of you. You're smart, athletic, and you've got the looks.."

His silence urged her to continue. "Honestly, it was annoying for us seeing her around you as if she thought she was the only person that mattered. It's obvious that she likes you. But I mean, you're clearly uninterested, so why push it? People like that just want to ride on other peoples coattails, you know?"

Another long, quiet atmosphere ensued as a group of strangers walked past them on a tiny sidewalk of the small street. The two girls felt the new tension in the air, and they decided not to tread on it further.

"On another note, there's a couple more stores down this street we should check out before finishing up. Should we take a look?"

"I came from a noble family."

The two girls continued to walk along in small conversation, until they came to a pause at the Uchiha's words. The girls turned to look at the raven-haired boy, registering the immediate fierceness of his expression.

"To be at the top of your class in your studies and to have the attention of almost everybody you know- that's how I once lived." Sasuke spoke in a low tone, taking slow steps closer to the two girls who became wary of the change in his voice before he continued. "Once upon a time my family got along. I had a brother, and he was who I looked up to- he's who I wanted to be like in the future. You said you wanted to know about my past- so I assume you can handle what happened next?"

"W-What-" Suddenly, Ari found herself being backed into the brick wall on the side of the tiny street as the Uchiha inched closer to her. Her eyes darted around their vicinity, where very few people were around.

Mako stood on the side, her jaw hanging open and her gaze also running from her friend to the space around them. A moment later, Ari let out a tiny gasp as her back hit the hard wall and Sasuke dropped the umbrella and shopping bags from his hands. From that moment on, there was nowhere for her to look except into the Uchiha's narrowed eyes. After holding her breath for a a few seconds, he whispered.

" _They're all dead_."

At this, the green-haired girl widened her eyes, taking a single gulp to force the hard lump down her throat.

"You seem to think you know everything about me, so I'll tell you take a guess." Sasuke brooded, tilting his head slightly to the side ominously. "What happened to them?"

Sasuke lifted a hand slowly, as if he were about to touch the side of Ari's face. Before he made it, though, she raised her own hand and weakly smacked his wrist away defensively.

"D-Don't you dare lay your hands on me, or I'll scream." She whispered back harshly, trying to control the shakiness in her voice.

At this, the two of them continued to fight for dominance with their gazes, though Ari found herself eventually looking away as perpetual cold fears began to rush over her body. Once the Uchiha saw this, he nearly scoffed.

"I've already wasted far too much time with you two. So if you get it, then this is my first and final warning.."

As he said this, the green-haired girl felt a wave of relief as he backed away from her, though her body subsequently froze once more as he sent another cold stare her way.

"Don't show your face near Sakura ever again."

Ari nearly choked on her breath, feeling as if her heart were about to pound out of its chest. Realizing her friends' distress, Mako rushed to her side, placing an arm on her for support as the two of them then watched Sasuke turned to walk the other direction. Before embarking, he bent down to pick up Ari's umbrella, lifting it above his head once more and reaching for his shopping bags. At this, Ari took a shaky step forward, attempting to regain her mental strength.

"Where do you think you can go from here? You don't have any money on you."

"Aa.. right."

Just then, the girls watched as the Uchiha stopped in the middle of his walk, moving his bags to the other hand that held the umbrella and using his free one to reach inside his pocket. This time, to the girls' disbelief and astonishment, he pulled out a tiny wallet and held it in the air for them to see.

"Looks like I had it with me all along."

At this, Ari gritted her teeth, exchanging furious glances with Mako. Without further words, Sasuke placed his wallet back into its respective place and held his shopping bag up, shaking it twice as if to thank them in a mocking manner before disappearing past the street corner.


	14. Part XIV: Jade and Onyx

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke and Sakura embark separately on their shopping mission in Tokyo square. Sakura meets up with Katsuya and the rest of her group, who were all surprised to hear that Sasuke had joined a different division instead. The Uchiha ended up enduring his day with Ari and Mako, who both remain clueless towards his antics the entire time.

 **A/N:** Another new chapter up! This one was a lot easier and quicker for me to complete because it was already like 80% done in advance, and also a lot shorter. Sasuke was quite the sneaky one in the last chapter, eh? I always imagine him to do things discreetly like that instead of being upfront about it (seeing as he really doesn't enjoy showing his true feelings regarding Sakura).

I quite enjoyed writing this instalment. As you'll see, it has a lighter and fluffier mood compared to recent chapters. I feel you Sakura, the rockiness between you and Sasuke lately started to stress me out as well! I promise there will be more moments like these from here on out. :)

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XIV: Jade and Onyx

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* * *

The sound of silverware slowly clanked and scratched against ceramic plates on the following Sunday morning. The two ninjas worked at the leftovers of yesterdays dinner in a dreadfully quiet air- not as if it were anything new. As she poked and prodded at the cooked fish in front of her, Sakura couldn't manage to shake away the impatient and unsettled feeling inside of her chest.

Why did he suddenly decide to join Ari and Mako's group? How did his shopping go yesterday? These were the questions she pondered all throughout her restless night. Not to mention the strange atmosphere between him and Katsuya she had witnessed in the department store.

As she pondered the answer to these questions by herself, the Uchiha placed his fork onto the plate in front of him and stood from the table in a slow manner. She watched as he started towards the kitchen, bringing everything to the sink and soaking his dishes with tap water. After a minute, he began walking towards the door.

"Are you going somewhere today?" Sakura inquired abruptly.

"I have work."

"Oh. Right."

As he pulled the doorknob to exit, the viridian-eyed girl glanced over to the couch, where she noted his jacket laying messily on it's arm. Subsequently, she took a peek at the balcony, pursing her lips at the dark clouds in the sky.

"Sasuke, wait."

The Uchiha paused for a moment. When he turned around, Sakura was walking over with his jacket clutched in her hand. She stopped with a good space between them and then brought it forward to his reach. There was a slight pause as he looked at the coat, then at her face. Eventually, though, he reached to take it into his own hands.

Their hands made contact for a brief second, in which seemed to put a frown on the pink-haired girls' face.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" She asks in a suspicious manner.

The Uchiha looks at her expressionlessly before turning his back on her. "I'm fine. I'll head out now."

"Hey."

At the sound of her voice again, the Sasuke stopped once more and sighed. "Sakura, I'm going to be la-"

Suddenly, the raven-haired man abruptly shifted himself around, and just when he did, a soft hand placed itself onto of his forehead. He widened his eyes a bit, the gesture taking him aback. There was a slight lull as the two of them appeared as if they were searching each others' eyes. During this moment, he stood perfectly still, not sure why he was unable to move.

After a few seconds, the pink-haired girl shook her head. "You have a fever."

"What of it? I feel fine." Sasuke took the hand on his forehead into his own with the gentlest touch and pulled it aside. She let him, and as she studied his face clearly, she became more aware of the fact that she hadn't taken a good look at him lately.

"I'm going to work." the raven-haired boy says in a weak voice, turning once more to leave.

As soon as he looked away from her, he felt a hard grip on his shoulder, one that made him feel a jolt of pain. And it wasn't because he was sick.

When he sighed and turned his head to the side, his brows furrowed only to notice the seriousness in her own.

"You're not going anywhere. Sit down." She says in a voice he doesn't recognize. In the next second, she grabbed his hand once more, in which he robotically let himself be trailed behind her towards the couch. The next thing he knew, he was forced to lay on it.

Before he had the chance to react, a blanket was thrown over his head. When he lifted it away from his face, he saw her standing in front of the couch with her hands on her hips with an unsatisfied expression.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked.

He was about to respond with something intelligible, but instead opted to shut his mouth and start again. "It was probably yesterday. From the rain."

At this, Sakura didn't respond but only disappeared into the kitchen. He heard the sound of rushing water from the sink, then lifted his upper body from the couch. "I'm fine. I'll just-"

The moment he started to speak again, Sakura had approached him with a bin and a damp towel in her hand. Before he was able to make another comment, she threw the towel onto his face, in which he let fall onto his lap. With a sigh, he picked it up and placed it on his forehead unwillingly and laid back down.

"You're in no place to act all high and mighty right now! Believe it or not, even strong ninja like you get sick once in awhile."

Sasuke glanced at her from where he was, making out the annoyed expression on her face. However, even he could feel that it was as if a barrier had broke between them. They were speaking.

Sakura lowered her voice. "Just be quiet and let me help you."

At this, Sasuke grunted, muffling his face into the inside of the couch.

"You are such a child." The pink-haired girl whispered, shaking her head once more. "Where do you work? I can go tell them that you won't be coming in today, and I'll pick up some things for you along the way."

"Don't worry about me."

Sakura sent him a dark look, even though she knew he couldn't see it. She cleared her throat madly, then stood there, waiting.

After a minute, the Uchiha spoke with hesitation.

"A fried chicken store."

"What was that?" Sakura leaned in at his murmur. Sasuke scowled into the couch.

"A fried chicken store."

"A _fried chicken store!?_ "

The pink-haired girl suddenly bursted into uncontrollable laughter, earning a harder frown from the Uchiha, who suddenly became very invested in the comfort of his blanket. "Wait a minute, you mean the one near the square? I've seen giant chicken mascots on the street before! Is that it?"

"Be quiet. You're giving me a headache."

The pink-haired girl slowly tried to wean off of her laugher. "Are you sure you don't want to let them know? You might get fired for just not showing up."

Sasuke appeared to contemplate this for a moment. "Do what you want." He finally says, not moving. "I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me anymore."

"Okay. Tell me what you want for lunch, I'll grab it." She finished up the last of her giggles.

"Don't need anything." He responds grumpily.

"You won't get any better at this rate."

"I'll be fine."

At this, the pink-haired girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. She left without a word, and just when he thought she went away for good, she returned back to the couch and placed something down on the coffee table in front of it.

After a few minutes, he heard the door click. As he lifted a single eyelid open and turned around to glance at the table, he noted a cup of hot tea set aside for him. Tearing his eyes away from it, he rested back towards the inside of the couch and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The Uchiha leaned his back against the wooden bridge, tilting his head towards the sky to feel the warm sunbeams penetrating his face from above. His eyes were shut closed as he took in a slow, tiny breath through his nose.

They say that when you do this, the rest of your senses heighten. And it's true. Everything sounds incredibly detailed once your vision sees black- the sound of your own breath, the sound of moving air..

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

-The sounds of voices that seemed to inch closer with every step.

"It seems we're the only ones here, again. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei sure like to take their time."

Like this, her voice appeared to echo inside of his mind; her words amplified louder and clearer than before.

"Well, while we wait for them, I'll tell you a about dream I had last night. Naruto dragged us to ramen right before.. of course he'd crave something like that. I don't really remember what the mission was, but- oh! We were fighting some rogue ninja in Iwagakure. They were really strong.."

The spring wind seemed to tangle along with her words, making her voice sound as if it were whistling and singing along with the breeze. From the other side, the birds chirped along to the same melody as if it were providing the accompaniment to her song.

"We eventually got split up from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. We tried to locate them, but they weren't anywhere to be found. And then.."

The sound of her voice provided an irreplaceable comfort for him.

"And then.. you tried to kill me."

Suddenly, a cacophony of distortedness erupted in his senses as a loud ringing began inside of his ears began to take place. The Uchiha let out a surprised gasp, attempting to peel his lids open. When he couldn't, he began to panic at the sensation of his eyes being glued shut.

"H-Hey, what's wrong?"

The pleasing sound of her voice began to muffle with every word that followed, as if he were hearing her speak from underwater.

"Sasuke-kun,"

He began to tear at his eyelids- his fingers forcefully prying them open to feel a warm rush of blood trickling down his cheeks and onto his neck.

"Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

"Sasuke-kun."

When his eyes fluttered open, it took awhile for his brain to register that he was still inside of their apartment. His head pounded on both sides as he glanced at surroundings from where he laid. His eyes rested on the tabletop, where he saw that the water bin had been changed and a new towel was placed beside it. When he wiggled his toes, he realized his shoes had also been taken off for him while he was asleep.

In his peripheral vision, he noticed the pink-haired girl had appeared by his side from behind the couch. "You were muttering things in your sleep. Are you alright?"

Instead of providing a response, the Uchiha's weak expression spoke it all. As she saw this, Sakura sighed. "It's almost lunch. What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."

"I'm not hungry."

"Not even some fruit?"

"It's fine."

"You have to eat, or your body won't get any nutrients."

"Don't need them."

The pink-haired girl twitched an eye. _He just doesn't want to accept my help._ "Fine."

However, instead of parting from the couch, Sasuke watched as she went around to the front and sat herself down on the hardwood floor, her back resting against where he laid. From behind, the Uchiha could clearly see the side of her face even though they didn't face eachother. He knew she was trying to give him some company.

"Did you ever fall sick before? You know, while you were with Orochimaru.." She trailed off quietly.

"Where in my life do I have the time to get sick?" Sasuke muttered in fatigue, "It's because of this whole situation we're in that I'm carelessly letting my guard down."

"Really? Not even once?"

"Not once."

Sakura appeared to ponder this for a moment.

"Why is that such a strange thing?" Sasuke inquired, sensing her discontent. "We're ninjas. Our bodies are quite versatile."

"Well, yeah. We're always fighting and doing things that risks our lives, but in the end, we're human too and humans get ill." Sakura says, "Guess it takes being in world without ninjutsu to realize that we're a lot more similar to civilians than we'd think."

There was a lull in the air afterwards, and for some reason the Uchiha felt as if there were a double meaning in her words.

"Anyway, that's why I think it's okay to get sick once in awhile. That, and among other things. It's normal." Sakura reinforced, changing her voice to be a bit more upbeat.

Another silence stipulated in the air, but to Sakura's surprise, this was the good kind that she had loved and missed. The ticking of the clock was quiet but well-heard, and as this peace lingered for the next few minutes, it was as if everything had fallen back into place as it should have.

"Sasuke-kun."

"Aa."

The sound of the kettle that had been boiling in the kitchen clicked with a short popping noise. Sakura let out a tiny breath in anticipation.

"How are we going to get home?"

The Uchiha looked at her from the side of her face, though she didn't turn to look back at him. The depth of her question caught him off guard, and when he realized he was unable to formulate a response, he closed his eyes and gazed back to the ceiling.

"I don't know." He said quietly, "I really don't."

"There's been no signs at all."

"We'll find it." Sasuke continued, almost as if he were sure. "We have to."

At this, the pink-haired girl pursed her lips and recalled his words when the two of them had fought in her hospital room. He was right in that sense. They didn't have all the time in the world to be playing school here, no matter how much it was needed.

But what exactly are they trying to find? If there was a clear sign.. where was it, and when was it going to appear? And when they find it, this thing is supposedly going to return them from where they came from. And then..

..What next?

"I'll get you some tea." She responded, hoisting herself up from the floor and making her way to the kitchen counter.

When she returned, instead of sitting back down, she knelt herself on the floor to face the Uchiha. To her surprise, he sat up immediately, and she managed to get a clear look of his weak face. They locked eyes for a brief second before he took the cup from her hands, his fingers slightly brushing the tip of hers once again.

Sasuke gave the tea a couple of blows, then proceeded to take a small sip- then another. Throughout this moment, Sakura realized she had been staring at him the entire time, and it wasn't until she realized how weird that was that she decided to look at the balcony. Right when she did that, Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eye, catching her divert her gaze.

 _"-It was all apart of the same failed past. There's nothing left of it, and there's no reason for us to feel anything towards eachother."_

"Why are you still doing this?"

The question seemed to catch the pink-haired girl off-guard.

"I'm a medical ninja. My jutsu may not work here but my duty is still intact. You're a sick person, so I'm helping you. That's all."

"You know that's not what I'm asking."

Sakura found herself unable to speak for a moment. He was right, even though he was broad, she fully understood the context of his ambiguous question.

"And you?" She whispers back. "I think you owe me more answers than I owe you."

The two of them searched eachothers' eyes, and each of them noticed the seriousness in the other. After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke swallowed the tiny lump in his throat.

"They're real." He started slowly, "Your feelings."

The pink-haired girl tried to calm her racing heart.

"Then, the thing I heard you say.." She says with slight hesitation, "Was that real too?"

 _"And to think I once thought of accepting those feelings."_

"-I know they're real, because they reached me." He continued, stopping for a second. "And one day I felt like I was able to produce those feelings too."

When he said this, Sakura's lips parted.

"But, that was in the past." He looked away. "Which means the person you feel so much for right now has long been altered beyond recovery. You know best that I'm not like how I was before. That past is long behind me, and I'm firm on letting it stay that way."

He said this in a relatively calm manner. After a few seconds, she let out the breath she had been holding.

"Thank you for telling me." She whispered softly. "But there's something I have to clarify."

He looks at her in a questionable manner.

"People's feelings do change over time and its inevitable. You and I have gone a long way." She started, "But it also means my feelings right now are a lot different from back then. Just like how you've changed, they did as well."

Sasuke stared at her blankly. "I don't quite understand what you're trying to say."

"What I'm trying to say is, the childish love that you remember from me isn't here anymore." Sakura continued, "The love I have for you right now means that no matter what kind of person you think you've become, and no matter what your goals are, my bond with you remains unconditional. So no matter what you say about yourself, that's the one thing that isn't going to change."

The viridian-eyed girl finished with an expression that she realized must have been too serious. She also became aware of the wetness in her eyes, in which she instantly felt her face flush hot. "I-I'm not expecting you to get it right away. I just needed to clear that up."

She waited for a response from the Uchiha, anything, to tell her that she had been heard. Despite her wishes, the two of them only stared at eachother- or rather, she stared at him while it seemed as if he were searching her face for more.

"What?" Sakura asked, feeling a bit awkward in the current situation. _Did I talk too much?_

Sasuke appeared to linger on her for awhile longer before finally blinking back to normal. "Just thinking about how annoying you are."

The pink-haired girl immediately pouted at his words. Seeing her displeased expression, the the corner of the Uchiha's mouth curled into a smirk before he lifted his cup for another sip of tea.

"By the way," Sakura started again in a lighter mood. "I did confess to Naruto. But it was only because I thought I could handle you myself without anybody's worry. I never once wavered."

The moment she finished, the viridian-eyed girl swore she felt her face turn a darker shade of red as she anticipated his next response.

"..You don't have to explain something like that to me. Aren't you embarrassed?"

She didn't know what she was expecting after clarifying something like that. "What do you mean? I have to! You made such a big deal about it!"

"Don't know what you're saying."

Sakura frowned. He seemed to really enjoy messing around with her. I guess it was as camaraderie-like as he was going to get.

"By the way, as well."

He started again, grabbing her attention with the seriousness in his voice.

"You didn't fall behind me."

His words struck her like the wind. After awhile, the pink-haired girl's lips slowly curled into a smile. When she looked away from his gaze, the Uchiha couldn't help but grin as well.

"Guess who I saw at your work." Sakura brought on a new subject, this time grinning like a fool.

"I know who you saw." Sasuke responded immediately, smirking a little.

"It's so _weird_." The pink-haired girl giggled, "When I walked in, he was the spitting image, except he was laughing and smiling like crazy. It was kind of..creepy."

"My first thoughts as well."

"What do you really do there? Doesn't it get super hot inside that chicken costume?"

The Uchiha scowled. "Don't joke. I don't do that stuff."

At this response, the viridian-eyed girl laughed and poked at him some more. The two of them stayed like this for a moment longer, appreciating eachother's presence before Sakura hoisted herself up from the floor once again. "I'll get more tea." She said, gently taking the raven-haired boy's cup into her hands and started towards the kitchen.

Sasuke watched her back for a few seconds as she roamed about in the kitchen, opening the cupboard to grab another teabag. He then laid himself back down, gently placing the back of his head against the armrest of the couch and gently closing his eyes for a brief moment.

"So we got as much things as we could for the festival preparations tomorrow. Hinata kind of got us a little sidetracked though because she claimed that I needed.. you know, normal clothes."

The Uchiha parted his lips, taking in a slow deep breath. There it was.

"And so we ended up getting a bunch of things, but I still have to find a job as soon as possible so I can pay her back. But with all of this festival stuff going on.."

Immediately, he felt his breathing become more constant, the headache that had pounded against both of his temples dissipating as she spoke.

Sakura rolled her eyes at his silence. "-Okay, I get it. You're not even listening."

He suddenly remembered the words of the silver-haired boy during their interaction at the department store.

Even if, in a perfect world where he were to eradicate his solitude and accept Sakura's feelings wholeheartedly, his cursed fate would only deem to take that away from him as well. He knows this would happen because it happened with his own kin; people who offered the same kind of love she did.

But there's no escape from it. That's the fate of a Uchiha. Knowing this better than anyone else, was it still okay for him to let his guard down a little?

"Tomatoes."

The pink-haired girl paused what she was doing and turned her head towards the couch, even though she was unable to see his face from where she was.

"I'd like something with tomatoes." He repeated.

Sakura let her mouth hang half open before she pursed her lips together into a benevolent smile. From where he was, he listened to a pause in her movements, unsure if his request had been heard. Peeling a single eyelid open in curiosity, he then closed it once again and smiled once he heard the sound of the stove whirring to life.


	15. Part XV: New Revelations

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke becomes out with the cold after shopping for festival materials. Instead of going to work, Sakura forces him to stay at home to rest up for the day. In his weakened state, the Uchiha contemplates matters regarding the two of them, and opts to provide Sakura with some closure about their last fight. At the end of the day, it appears that everything went well between them, with Sasuke coming to new conclusions about their relationship..

 **A/N:** So I've decided to put up a little updates section in my user profile, where I'll provide anticipated times for when I'll have the next chapter up by. If I'm unsure, I may leave it broad (eg. sometime next month), until I get a better idea in which I will provide prompt updates. If it helps, you're free to check up on it as often as you'd like~

I hope this update satisfies you enough to compensate for the wait! School is getting busier now so I'm not sure how often I'm able to make updates, but I'll try the best that I can! I'm very wary of good pacing with my storylines, therefore I like to drag some things out for sometimes.. I apologize if it may seem slow for you T_T

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XV: New Revelations

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* * *

The next morning, the two ninjas walked side by side as they strode down the busy halls of the school that seemed to have been turned upside-down. Left and right, students roamed and lingered at different areas of the hallway, pushing and shoving furniture in and out of open classroom doors.

Sakura leaned her shoulder to the side to let a group of students push two giant decorative pillars past her. She looked over her shoulder for a brief second, admiring their work. Starting from today, the next few days were dedicated solely towards festival preparations. Each class was busy turning their rooms inside-out to fit their respective themes for the big day. As the viridian-eyed girl briefly glanced in each row of classrooms on the floor, she realized she couldn't quite yet make out what other classes were planning on doing with their theme, but nevertheless felt growing excitement in finding out within the days to come.

"I feel like this whole festival thing is going to be fun. We didn't get much of this back in Konoha." She said, turning her head towards the Uchiha, who glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"I don't really have a comment about it, if that's what you're expecting."

"A downer, as always." Sakura muttered, but quickly regaining her cheerful grin. "It's good to see you're all better now. See what being less stubborn can do for you?"

"Tch." The Uchiha simply clicked his tongue at her remark.

The pink-haired girl flickered her eyes, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, by the way, I have something to show you."

"Something to show me?"

He stopped in his tracks when she did, and watched as Sakura dove a quick hand into her schoolbag. She appeared to be searching for awhile, until her expression lit up once she pulled out a foreign device in her hand. Immediately, he thought that he had seen something like that before. Except, this one was a tad smaller, shorter, and also black in color with a tiny screen on the front that read the current time.

Sakura pushed a thumb between the device, opening it with a single flick of her wrist. "It's called a _cellphone_. Hinata said it was really inconvenient for me to not have one of these, and that the others would be able to reach me faster amidst all of this chaos. I don't really know much about it, but it's one of the cheaper models they had." She smiled, "I didn't want to ask her to get another one for me.. but you can use this one too, for work if you want."

"It's the communication device civilians use." Sasuke shared his knowledge, taking it from her hands in a gentle motion and observing the tiny screen carefully. "I've used one before. When I found out you were hurt."

The pink-haired girl paused for a moment, clearing her throat. "Yeah, kind of like the radio devices we use back in the shinobi world. Except I presume you can do more things with it."

The Uchiha appeared to be in thought, examining the object further before exchanging a soft glance at her. "Nice job. Perhaps I should find one too, so we can reach eachother if anything happens."

Sakura nodded at the idea, taking the cellphone back into her hands and placing it back into her bag.

"Sasuke-kun."

Upon hearing the Uchiha's name, the two ninjas turned to see Ari and Mako standing before them in a defensive manner. Sakura couldn't quite read the look on their faces, but they didn't seem very pleased. Rather, it seemed like they were.. disturbed.

"A word?" Mako says in a low voice, avoiding eye contact with the viridian-eyed girl.

The Uchiha exchanged glances with Sakura for a brief second. After a moment, he gave her a tiny nod. "I'll see you in class."

"Okay." Sakura complied, eyeing the two girls suspiciously before walking past them and into the classroom.

Once she had disappeared, the Uchiha followed the two girls past their classroom and down a staircase towards the second floor- the same one he saw Katsuya and Sakura.. _conversing_ in the week before. He attempted to shake his mind off the thought.

When they came to a stop at the lower floor, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets in an impatient manner. "Do you two need something from me?"

"You tricked us." Mako made sure to stand at a distance from him, crossing her arms. He noticed a tiny tremble present in her hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Th-Those things we did for you were expensive. Do you know that?"

"Is that so?" Sasuke cocked his head to the side. "In that case, I owe you a thanks."

Ari gritted her teeth at his mocking tone. "Don't think just because you made up some sob story about yourself that we'll let something like this go."

When she said this, Sasuke's expression immediately changed into something that made the girls flinch and take a step back. Ari's trembling began to increase at the impending silence from the Uchiha, the anticipation making her heart beat faster.

"I'll eventually get tired of doing this, you know." He hissed in a vicious tone, "I never asked you two to do anything for me. And what did I say about getting near Sakura?"

"W-Well I can't actually do anything about that, we're in the same class. What are you going to do about it?" Ari said through a tiny, shaky breath.

At this, Sasuke nearly scoffed before sending another sharp glare in her direction.

"Don't think that I wouldn't do anything to you just because you're a girl. I promise I'd let you have it."

His words left a ringing inside of her head, and she forced the hard lump down her throat.

"That is, unless you decide to piss Sakura off first. I promise she's a lot scarier than I am." He lowered his voice in a threatening manner. "Is this understood?"

The Uchiha kept his eyes on her for another tantalizing second before she gave him a slow, a single nod. Afterwards, he tore himself away from her gaze and began walking back up the stairs.

* * *

Sakura walked into a room full of students chattering and moving about in every vicinity. She watched as some of her classmates were busy heaving the remaining desks outside into the halls and rolling in large tables for their cafe. Another group of students crouched onto the floor at the far side of the room with a large banner laid out in front of them, a short blonde girl pondering the design with some friends.

"Sakura!"

The viridian-eyed girl darted her attention towards Chouji, who was waving at her from the back of the class. She eyed Hinata and Ino, who sat on the floor on either side of him. Shikamaru lounged across from the three, and Katsuya was nowhere to be seen.

The pink-haired girl sent them a smile and walked over without further hesitation. She gave her friends a short greeting before sitting herself down in the circle beside Hinata, setting her bag down beside her.

"We just got started on a few things here." Ino said, referring to the pile of materials placed in the center of the circle. In her hand, she held a pair of dark-colored jogger pants, with more stacked beside her. "I found a couple of these for a cheap price at a thrift store. I thought they'd be nice for our costumes."

"It looks good." Sakura nodded, giving her approval. "We'll come up with some designs once everybody arrives."

"Speaking of which.. we were just discussing." The Hyuuga leaned in on the pink-haired girl, "If it's alright with you, Sakura, there's someone I'd like you to meet at the festival."

"Oh?" Sakura's attention perked in curiosity. "And who is this?"

"A good friend of mine. Since the festival is open to visitors, I thought it'd be nice for the two of you to meet."

The pink-haired girl seemed to ponder this thought for a moment, then decided she was relatively interested in the idea. "Sure, I don't mind at all."

"You'll be busy from now on, Sakura-chan." Shikamaru exclaimed, "A lot of things will be needing your attention. Don't get too worn out there!"

"I know, and I'll do my best to support everybody." The pink-haired girl grinned at her friends wholeheartedly. "Although I'm a little regretful that we weren't able to find any nicer materials."

"I'm sure it'll be alright, we can make do with what we have right now. Also, you're doing great so far. It looks like everybody managed to do their tasks over the weekend." The shadow user peered around the busy classroom, where distinct groups of students were at work. "Plus, you've got Katsuya around to give you a hand."

"Do I really, now?" Sakura suddenly furrowed her brows, "I haven't seen him this morning. At this rate I don't know if he'd be more helpful or if he's just adding more on my plate."

"Talking smack behind peoples back now, are we?"

As if on cue, Sakura felt a hard poke on the back of her head, in which she let out a tiny grunt as the silver-haired boy immediately took the spot beside her. Katsuya briefly stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner before placing his bag down, earning a distinct pout from the pink-haired girl.

At that moment, the Uchiha moved towards the inside of the classroom, looking up to catch the view of his teammate throwing tiny punches at the silver-haired boys' arm, to which he seemed to be enjoying her reaction profusely.

He couldn't explain to himself the disgruntled feeling inside of him. Instead, he continued making his way towards the group without hesitation.

"-I wasn't trash talking you!"

"You were. Don't think I didn't hear you."

"Well, maybe if you didn't-" The pink-haired girl paused at the sight of the raven-haired boy showing himself to the circle. In an instant, her eyes lit up. "Sasuke-kun!"

At her enthusiasm, Katsuya's whimsical expression suddenly became dull. He too, turned around to meet the Uchiha's gaze, maintaining a nonchalant expression.

"Sasuke," Hinata greeted the raven-haired boy in an unwelcoming manner, "What brings you here? Thought you'd be busy getting all chummy with your two new companions."

"I've decided this group would be more peaceful for me." Sasuke announced, earning confused expressions from the gang as he sat beside the shadow-user voluntarily, throwing his bag down before reaching a hand deep inside.

"What?" The Hyuuga scowled, "Hey, don't just think you can go around doing whatever you want after completing ghosting people like that. And don't forget how you- _oh my god!_ "

Hinata's mouth dropped wide open as the Uchiha placed down several stacks of fabric, each folded nicely and packed into several bundles with red ribbon. The rest of the group followed her reaction.

"Sasuke-kun," The pink-haired girl blinked a few times before taking one of the bundles into her hand, running her palm against the smooth material. "Where did you manage to find these?"

"Saw them at a store." The Uchiha responded in an aloof manner. From the corner of his eye, he watched as Sakura then reached for a sleek, black fabric within the pile, as well as a rich deep-blue.

"This would be perfect for making our headbands." She said with a new glow in her sea-green eyes, one that brings a curve on the Uchiha's lips.

"It seems like you two are better now. I'm glad to see you've fixed whatever it was that needed to be fixed." Ino exclaimed with a benevolent smile.

" _Ehhhh?_ Were they fighting or something?"

The pink-haired girl chuckled as the blonde sent a few glares towards the shadow-user, unimpressed at his obliviousness. The silver-haired boy remained apathetic, diverting his gaze from the two.

"When did you get these? What about the baking division?" Sakura inquired further.

"Ahh who cares, these look amazing!" Shikamaru exclaimed before the Uchiha could provide a response, holding up a deep green color close to his skin. "They're a lot better than the stuff we got! Imagine what we could make with these!"

The rest of the group followed through with similar reactions until the pink-haired girls' question had dissipated into the air. She appeared to be unsatisfied without an answer, but quickly decided to let the matter go for now. It was only Katsuya that continued to sit casually with his arms crossed, seemingly uninterested in what was going on.

"In that case, I'd like for us to get started on some designs today." Sakura announced.

"Alright! I'm totally making mine super badass!"

At that moment, the group began pulling out their respective notebooks from their bags to begin initial sketches. The next few moments were spent with pencils tapping against the pads accompanied by loud voices mainly from Shikamaru, who opted to narrate the progress of his design.

"Actually, Shikamaru." Sakura started, lifting her pencil from her book, "If its alright with you, I'd like you to come up with a mascot for our cafe."

"Ahh, seriously?" The shadow user groaned for a moment, "And here I thought I'd be able to make myself look cool, like a rogue ninja or something."

Sakura chuckled. "Don't worry, you can still make your own clothes. I just need somebody to make a mascot as well for whoever's going to wear it."

Shikamaru pondered this for a bit. "In that case, it can't be helped. Leave it to me, Sakura-chan!"

"Will it be alright, though?" Ino furrowed her eyebrows with worry, "Based on our designs so far, it doesn't look like we have enough things to make it with.."

At the blonde's words, Sakura glanced at the modest pile of fabrics on the floor in front of them, particularly at the things Sasuke had brought.

The Uchiha picked up on the worry in her eyes. "If we're short on materials, I can show you where I bought them."

"Even so, our budget.."

Sasuke paused for a moment. "Then, we can return some of the ones you bought and use the money to get some more of the other materials. That way we'd be able to save a good amount."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Chouji nodded, turning to the pink-haired girl. "What do you think, Sakura?"

Instead of providing a response, the viridian-eyed girl placed a finger on her lip in thought.

"I can go with you after class."

A following silence occurred, and Sakura looked from the Uchiha to the silver-haired boy, who said the exact same thing at the same time as the Uchiha. The two of them exchanged sharp glares at eachother following their unity, their discontent showing on their faces.

"Are you even thinking? You don't even know where the place is." Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth.

"It's called google maps. Not that you've ever heard of it." Katsuya quickly retorted in a nonchalant manner.

At this, Ino looked at Hinata, who shared the same expression of entertainment at the boys' squabble. Meanwhile, Sasuke continued to send the silver-haired boy malicious stares. _As if this guy couldn't be more obvious.._

"Okay, I've decided."

All eyes darted towards the pink-haired girl, who raised her chin in the air. "Sasuke-kun and I can go do the exchanges. Sorry Katsuya, I'd like you to oversee everybody drafts and help me check up on the other groups as the vice."

The silver-haired boy swore he saw a ghost of a smirk show on the Uchiha's face once Sakura had made her announcement. Narrowing his eyes at him one last time, he sighed in defeat. "Fine with me."

With that, the group of friends resumed their work for the remainder of the time. The shadow user continued to show off his ideas to Chouji, while the girls concentrated on their own creations. From opposite sides, Katsuya and Sasuke worked in silence.

* * *

Once school had been dismissed for the day, a few students stayed behind to finish up their duties for the festival, while others immediately left once the bell rang. To accomplish their new task, Sasuke and Sakura were of the latter.

They strolled alongside the busy streets of Tokyo, at the very place where the two of them had initially landed. It had been quite some time since then. The only difference now was that they seemed to be on better terms than they were when they got here, which was a relatively promising sign.

The two of them continued to walk with a good distance between their shoulders. Neither of them made conversation during this time, though it wasn't really an issue as they allowed the busy streets of Tokyo to do the talking for them. She wasn't entirely sure in which direction they were going, but Sasuke claimed to remember where the place was, so she trusted him.

"Sasuke-kun."

There was only one thing on her mind as of now.

"Aa?"

"If you went through so much to buy all of that for us, why did you join the baking group?"

Sasuke hesitated for a brief moment at the sudden question.

"Just thought it would make your job a little easier. The easier it is for you, the easier it is for me."

The pink-haired girl seemed somewhat in disbelief. "Okay.. in that case, maybe its best that you should stay with them for the rest of the festival. It'd be inconvenient if you guys got started on something and-"

"I'm alright. And those guys have yet to come up with things anyway."

Sakura continued stared at him in half-suspicion. She narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha, who continued to look straight ahead, attempting to read his face for any kind of answer.

"We're here."

When she looked up ahead, the two of them had stopped in front of a small store alongside a quiet street. The sign above was written in bold, red letters reading "Benten Creations" on top of a pristine, white backboard.

On the outside of the store and surrounding the glass entrance, boxes containing piles of sample fabric lined each side, most of which contained intricate designs in an assortment of all colors. It took awhile for Sakura to realize that her mouth was hanging wide open at the beautiful sight.

"Can you handle things here?" Sasuke inquired, detecting her growing interest.

"Yeah, I've got it covered here. I'll come find you when I'm done." Sakura responded, earning a single nod from the Uchiha before he walked himself towards the other end of the sidewalk.

Without further ado, the pink-haired girl took a single step inside of the little store, only to be struck with further awe at the sight of hundreds of designs plastered in each aisle. The store was a fairly small size, but with the presence of raging colors, it appeared as if the space were an endless journey of exploration. Near the entrance was the counter where a pudgy old man sat, sound asleep. On top of the register to his left was a small decorative statue of a golden snake.

She began to walk down the first aisle her curiosity had lead her to. When she was deep within it, she stopped and reached a hand out to touch a sample of red silk that glided smoothly across the skin of her fingertips. Up close, small pictures of bamboo shoots and leaves were sewn expertly with gold thread by means of pure handiwork. Upon seeing the wonderful pieces, she suddenly wished she actually took it seriously when her mother used to teach her how to sew when she was younger.

"Hello miss, can I be of any help to you?"

Sakura turned to meet the voice of a middle-aged young lady with short, blonde hair.

"I'm just browsing around for now, thanks. Very impressed at the work of each design." Sakura grinned, much to the pleasure of the worker.

"Aren't they wonderful? Our boss designs and crafts everything by hand. He's very dedicated and skilled."

"I knew they were hand-made! How lucky would it be to have this sort of talent.." The pink-haired girl praised. And how admirable is it to imagine a man carrying on a hobby like this!

"Indeed. He's a very patient and compassionate man- I very much respect his work myself. Actually, if you're interested in his craftsmanship, the boss is looking for an apprentice. He's quite open to teaching others, and if you do well, your design could be sold in the store. If only I were able to have steady hands.."

At her words, Sakura's face lit up and she beamed in excitement. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." The woman grinned at her enthusiasm, "He's actually in today, although I believe he's busy at the moment. Should I go see if he's available to meet with you?"

"Yes, please! I'd really appreciate it. My name is Sakura."

A moment later, the lady disappeared around the corner of the aisle upon her request. As Sakura waited, she busied herself with looking at the rest of the fabrics along the aisle. A feeling of excitement rushed over her at the thought of being able to make one of these herself one day.

Not too long after, the woman rushed back to her side with a grin on her face.

"Sakura-chan? The boss is just talking to an employee at the moment, but if you could just follow me to the front register, that'd be great."

"Of course. Thank you!"

As the woman began to walk, the pink-haired girl ran her fingers through her hair in a frenzy, immediately regretting not brushing it this morning. After flattening her skirt a bit and straightening her back, she headed in the direction of the register, following closely behind the saleswoman.

After exiting the aisle, she caught sight of a tall, skinny man standing at the counter in conversation with the old man, who was now awake. Sakura took in a single breath, fluffing her skirt one more time to ensure its perfection. As the saleswoman approached the boss first, the viridian-eyed girl attempted to steal a glimpse at his features, though she didn't have any luck as his back was fully turned towards her.

"Sir, this is the young woman that's interested in working under you."

"Is that so? Just give me a second here, Hana."

At her words, the pink-haired girl enthusiastically widened her grin.

"As I was saying, Taki ojiisan, it's difficult for your age so you should just tell me if you're tired while working. If it continues like this, it's also troublesome for customers to see you sleeping all the time.."

Sakura listened to his words, pleased at his gentle tone. Although, the more she heard, the more she thought there was something about this person..

"-If i'm scheduling you for too many shifts, just let me know. We can work something out because I don't want to overwork you.."

..that really bothered her.

The gigantic smile on her face progressively grew weaker and weaker at his every word. As she pondered the man's backside further, she took note of his sleek, shiny black hair that was probably more well-kept than hers by the way it shined under the light. It swished side to side as he spoke, and suddenly Sakura felt her herself throw up in her mouth a little.

"Write down your schedule for me after work, okay? I can figure something out for you. Now, I have to meet this young lady over here.."

When he swung his body around, finally, the fantastic smile she had turned into a face of complete and utter disgust.

"Sakura-chan, was it?" He says with endearment in his voice, sending a long, cold shiver down her spine. "I'm Orochimaru."

A following silence ensued for the next few seconds. Sakura stood, wide-eyed and her mouth dropped open to its greatest extent at what had just happened. Rolling her gaze up and down the person who had once been deemed the greatest threat to ninjas, she cowered at the sight of his peach-coloured apron with a pattern of yellow ducks and roses. As her eyes rolled back up, she made eye contact with his sharp golden eyes behind large, oversized glasses.

"Sakura-chan? Are you alright?"

Another slow shiver crept itself through her spine at the motherly tone of his voice. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him while her peripheral vision took note of the golden snake statue glimmering under the light.

"I-I'm gre- _fantastic_." She forced out of her mouth, taking a gulp after speaking.

"That's good to hear." Orochimaru grinned with his eyes closed, the pink-haired girl taking advantage of this brief second to let out the look of discomfort on her face before forcing another smile.

"You seem like a cheerful girl. I hear you're interested in becoming my apprentice, when are you able to start?"

"As soon as you're willing to have me. I'm greatly interested in your work.." Sakura said as naturally as she could. This was a job opportunity, and she had to keep in mind that Tokyo's version of Orochimaru was a lot more different than the one she knew back at home.

"Is that so? Thank you very much, it makes me happy to hear that." He said modestly, "My designs are largely inspired by my wife."

At this, Sakura's nostrils flared, her nausea at its peak. For some reason, she couldn't shake off the image of the grey-haired, glasses-wearing Shinobi at home.

"Anyway, I'd love to have you starting on Monday, if that's alright with you. For now, I urge you to have a look at this book." Orochimaru reached his long arms over the counter, taking into his hands a tiny blue book and handing it out to her. "Study up on some of this before coming in. It's okay if you don't understand it; some of the concepts are hard to grasp at first read, so I'll show you in person. I'll see you next week?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you." Sakura said, slowly taking the book into her hands with great caution.

A few moments later, the pink-haired girl busied herself with picking out some more materials from the store as she required from the beginning. Throughout the time, she tried to pound the idea of working with Sasuke's old mentor into her head, appalled at how this came to be. Once she finished and picked up her bags, the old man at the cashier waved her a slow goodbye with a closed-eye smile on his round, aged face.

As she exited the store short after, she noticed Sasuke had already been waiting for her outside, his back against the cement wall and his arms crossed in a casual manner.

"Took you long enough." He chastised, immediately removing himself from the wall and starting a slow walk down the sidewalk. Sakura robotically followed from behind.

"Sasuke-kun.. I just got myself a job."

"Is that so?" He said nonchalantly, turning around momentarily to meet her eyes. "Then why do you look so disgusted?"

"You know how we thought it was weird that Gaara's your coworker?"

"What about it?"

"Well, I think I out-weirded you on this one."

A short silence followed while the Uchiha pondered in deep thought. He couldn't recall seeing anyone he recognized when he was in the store on the weekend, therefore he found himself particularly interested in this matter. "Who is it?"

Sakura stayed quiet for a moment to build anticipation, but finally gave in.

"Orochimaru."

The raven-haired boy suddenly came to a sharp halt in his steps.

".. _What?_ "

"Yeah, Orochimaru. The one with the tongue. Your beloved _shishou_. He was quite… _nice_? warm?"

He stayed silent for some time, although Sakura could feel exactly what he was feeling.

"Is that place safe for you to be working at?" He finally said with serious doubt in his voice.

"It has to be, it's not like he's the same person we know. Maybe it won't be as bad as we think. After all, snakes were originally considered to be good luck, right?"

"Aa.."

Sakura pouted at his lack of enthusiasm. "Really, you could at least give me congratulations on finding a job."

The pink-haired girl stood with a subsequent visible frown on her face. Seeing her this way, the Uchiha sighed.

"Why do I need to congratulate you? After all, I told you from the start that you'd find one."

After saying this, he left her standing alone as he quickly continued to walk up ahead. A moment later, Sakura grinned and jogged to catch up to his speed without saying a word.

* * *

 _*Benten: Also known as "Benzaiten", the Japanese Buddhist goddess closely associated with snakes in Japan._


	16. Part XVI: From where I can see you

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Sasuke and Sakura enter the first day of festival preparations. To the group's surprise, the Uchiha joins back in on the costume committee, ultimately winning their acceptance back with the materials he had managed to swipe thanks to Ari and Mako. On a mission to exchange some fabric, Sakura manages to find a job at the place Sasuke had gone to on the weekend.. only to find out that Orochimaru is now her boss.

 **A/N:** Despite a little bit shorter than usual, another super fun chapter to write! This is mainly in Sasuke's POV.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XVI: From where I can see you

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* * *

The Uchiha wove the last stitch in his fabric, pulling the piece into its final form. After finally finishing his get-up after what seemed like days, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes to rest momentarily. When he thought about it, he could've opted to use his _actual_ clothes for this festival instead. That is, if they weren't utterly tattered from the war prior to landing here.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is D-day.

When he peered his lids back open, he took a glance around the busy classroom, realizing that the pink-haired girl was nowhere to be found. He hadn't seen much of her for the past few days ever since festival planning started. She was needed by almost everyone and everywhere. By the time he went to work after school and got home, she was already asleep in the bedroom.

He glanced down at his costume, staring at it briefly before deciding he might as well look for further instructions. Hastily, he shifted himself up from the ground and exited into the hallway.

As of today, the raven-haired boy wasn't sure if he had been going to a school or a commoner's market. Left and right, classroom doors were decorated in bizarre ways that urged visitors into their rooms, with colourful signs and posters all around its vicinity. _Where is she?_ Sasuke pondered as he continued to stroll down the busy hallway.

He didn't have much trouble locating her initially, as his eyes immediately caught sight of the viridian-eyed girl at the end of the hall conversing with a student from their class. Just as he took a step forward and opened his mouth to call out to her, a body threw itself messily in front of his tracks, blocking the view of his destination.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, displeased at the interruption. Shikamaru, on the other hand, looked the Uchiha in the eye with a panicked expression. In his hand was a mysterious, giant black garbage bag.

"Sasuke, my dude." The shadow user dropped the bag onto the floor with a soft thud and daringly clutched the sides of the Uchiha's shoulders in a tight grasp. " _Please-_ help a brother out."

"You're not my brother." Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru's hard grip, then peered behind the shadow users' shoulder and frowned at the disappearance of the pink-haired girl. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the serious nature of his response.

Giving up, the raven-haired boy returned his gaze to his panicked classmate. "-What do you want?"

"Listen, I just got a call and I'm about to get in some real deep crap with my mom. If I don't make it home in the next five minutes, I may not live to attend the festival tomorrow."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the shadow user, watching as Shikamaru then bent to pick up the giant black garbage bag from the ground and subsequently shoved it into the Uchiha's chest.

"In here, lies _Shuri-kun_. Shuri-kun, Sasuke. Sasuke, Shuri-kun." He introduced, "He's cute, fun, a little bit angsty but great with people."

Sasuke stared at the bag in his chest for awhile longer, not quite understanding what the shadow user was getting at. And what's with that terrible pun?

Finally, he realized what he was trying to ask.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

Shikamaru gave a visible frown. "I just need you to model the prototype for the remainder of the school day. I gotta have some feedback on how much more practical I can make it, or else Sakura-chan might have my head too."

At his dilemma, the Uchiha smirked. "Good luck."

Sasuke shoved the bag back into the shadow user's hands before walking ahead to resume his search for the pink-haired girl. Shikamaru stood still in his spot for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes, immediately jolting his head back to the Uchiha.

Before he had the chance to get very far, Sasuke felt a hard grasp on his shoulder. Giving a tiny sigh, he turned around to face the shadow user once more, only to be hastily dragged into a nearby classroom.

* * *

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"It looks like some kind of cat. It's kind of cute.."

The raven-haired boy frowned at the audible chatter around him. After a dreadful few minutes, he was allowed to exit the classroom he had been abducted into, although those few minutes were probably the worst moments of his Tokyo life.

Sasuke squinted at his reflection inside the hallway window, only to scowl at the monstrosity before him. His head was placed inside a gigantic ball-like thing that was uncomfortably larger than the rest of his body. At the very top was a pair of tiny, pointed feline ears. And on his forehead? The worst headband he'd ever seen if ninjas were to ever exist here. Replacing the symbol of a notable shinobi village was a dinner plate with a small winky face in the center, accompanied by two forks on either side.

The rest of his body was enclosed in a puffy onesie of a dark grey color to match the head, with a tail on his behind that was far too long for any human to walk without tripping on. Now, he'd go on to look at what the actual face of the mascot looked like, but he realized at this point that he had yet to care one bit _._ If anything, he felt a great equivalence to the chicken-wearing people KFC. Almost pitied them, even.

The worst part is? He couldn't see a damn thing in here. The net in front of him that was supposedly "vision-enabling" according to Shikamaru, was definitely too thick and obstructed almost his entire view.

 _"Don't take it off until the day ends, alright? I'll meet you in the class at the end of the day. Thanks man!"_

Remembering the shadow user's words, Sasuke felt the irritation increase inside of him. In a split second, he placed two hands on either side of the huge cat head, attempting to tug it off with a single pull.

-Only to realize that the damn thing wouldn't budge. At all. How was that possible? It's not like it's connected to anyth-

Suddenly, the Uchiha reached around to the back of his neck, running his hand around the perimeter only to widen his frown. Instead of letting the wearer pull off the head right away, the damn Nara opted to use a zipper to enclose the costume, _and now that zipper was broken._

 _Did I pull too hard?_ At this, Sasuke released his hands from the costume, slowly placing them back on either side of his body. He stood still for a tantalizing second, taking in a giant, deep breath from the bottom of his lungs as he stood on the side of the hallway. He'd let Shikamaru suffer the consequences later. For now, he was relieved that at least he wasn't claustrophobic.

Unsure of what to do from here on out, Sasuke opted to resume his original goal. _Where did_ _Sakura go?_

As he took a few heavy steps further out into the hallway, the Uchiha continued to find displeasure in the difficulty of navigating in the proper direction. Spending the next few minutes slowly turning corners and dodging silhouettes, he never felt more dehumanized.

Suddenly, his eyes widened at the sight of a figure nearby with distinctly pink hair. Letting out a sigh of relief, he slowly made his way towards her vicinity. However, at the sluggish pace he was going at, the pink-haired girl only seemed to be getting farther and farther as he walked. At this, the Uchiha frowned, suddenly speeding up his pace. Once he managed to get close to her, he reached out an arm to grab her by the wrist to keep her in place.

"You're too difficult to locate." He started, "At this rate, I should look into getting a cellphone for myself soon."

"S-Sasuke-kun? Is that you?"

The Uchiha widened his eyes at the voice he heard. Immediately, he jolted his hand back from his grip at the sound that didn't seem to quite match the one he knew.

After he squinted his eyes and looked at the figure for a moment longer, he closed them short after and clicked his tongue in frustration as he took note of the spectacles on her face.

"D-Did you have a hard time finding me?" Karin's face turned into a beet red, shoving her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

He contemplated leaving the scene right now in this instant, but he remembered that this girl once helped him on the first day of school. Taking this into consideration, he gave a single cough to clear his throat.

"Karin." He says nonchalantly, but nothing more as his gaze continued to search elsewhere.

The glasses girl immediately grinned at his friendly greeting. _What does Sasuke-kun need me for?_

"What're you doing in that, Sasuke-kun? Ah! Isn't your class-"

"Get out of the way, four-eyes!"

Karin suddenly stumbled to the side, her back hitting the inside wall of the hallway as two girls bulldozed themselves past her. The two of them then came to a sudden stop and paused after noticing the giant cat in front of them.

Ari blinked once before looking at Mako with an excited expression, "Oh my goodness! Is that the mascot for our cafe? It's so cute!"

"It's perfect! Let's take a selfie!"

The Uchiha stood, frozen in place as the two girls suddenly shuffled on either side of him, each latching onto his two arm and burying their heads into his shoulder. Before he had time to react, Mako immediately swiped out her cellphone, a white one with a bunch of things dangling from it on the bottom and held it into the air.

"Ready! 1…2.."

After a quick snap of the camera, the two girls retreated themselves from the mascot and looked down at the photo, pleased with its capture.

"Ahhh so cute!" Mako squealed, "I can't wait to serve in the cafe tomorrow! I wonder if-"

Suddenly, a giant deadly aura encompassed their vicinity, sending shivers down their spine. As the two of them slowly turned their bodies around, they met with the deadly, beady eyes of Shuri-kun.

"Uh.. I guess we'll get going then." Ari said. Not long after, the two girls disappeared as quickly as they had came.

Karin stood on the side, still against the wall with a widened mouth. After a moment, she shook her head to compose herself back to normal. _Sasuke-kun.. he saved me._

The Uchiha continued to brood silently on his own, wondering why those two seemed to appear everywhere he went. After awhile, he turned his back on the glasses girl and started his way to the other side of the hall.

"Sasuke-kun!" Karin quickly jogged up to his side, poking her head a little bit ahead so that she was in his field of vision. "T-Thanks for that. If you aren't busy, mind if I hangout with you a little bit for the day?"

She couldn't really tell if he heard him underneath the thick cat head, but he did. He thought about her request for awhile, and even though his initial reaction was a hard no, he contemplated it for a moment longer. This way, he'd have another set of eyes to help him catch Sakura.

"Do what you want."

The redhead girl beamed at his compliance as she followed by his side. Like this, the two of them continued along the hallway in an acquainted silence. Neither of them bothered to strike conversation, to which the Uchiha appreciated as he maintained a distance with the girl.

"I didn't get a chance to finish my question. What's your class doing for the festival, Sasuke-kun?"

Too soon.

"A cafe."

"A cafe? What kind?"

"Ninja."

"Is that so!?" Karin beamed, letting out a chuckle. "That sounds like so much fun! No wonder your mascot looks so shinobi-like! What sorts of things you guys have on the menu?"

"I don't know either."

"Really? Even though it's your own class?"

"It's not my division." _And maybe if I could find Sakura, she'd tell me all about it._

"Ohh, I see.." Karin nodded her head, "Then, I'll come visit you when its open, if you don't mind."

Sasuke appeared indifferent at her proposition, but she took his silence as a sign of confirmation.

Within that silence, the Uchiha couldn't help but think that when this person talked, she sounded relatively similar to his own companion. Especially when she accented certain phrases and did that little laugh after she found something amusing. She definitely isn't like this back in the shinobi world.

Karin continued to smile happily to herself, her strides continuing with a tiny skip.

"-Our class is doing fortune-telling. I hope you'll swing by as well if you have time."

"Maybe."

"I see.." Karin placed a finger on her bottom lip, tilting her head to the side to observe the cat's head.

Although she wasn't able to see his face underneath, Sasuke picked up on her gaze from the silence. "What is it?"

"You're a little bit unapproachable at first glance, Sasuke-kun, but you're not an unfriendly person. You should warm up to people more."

The Uchiha blinked at her words. Sakura also said the same phrase to him before. How uncanny.

"-Unless if you have people messing with you like those two earlier!" Karin made a fist, shaking it in the air in frustration. "Jeez, I swear I'll let them have it the next time I see them. Even though we aren't from the same class, they're always causing trouble for others.. _pisses me off!_ "

At this, Sasuke gave a little smirk in amusement.

"-What do you mean, we don't have enough bamboo shoot pillars!? I just ordered another batch a few days ago!"

The raven-haired boy suddenly stopped in his tracks at a feminine voice from afar.

"I-I don't know! I'm so sorry, I think I gave you the wrong address so the shipping must have gotten lost.."

A slight pause ensued. "It's fine.. I'll work something out after I finish doing a final run on everybody's costumes."

He registered her voice immediately- the one thing he expertly recognized her by after many days of listening to her at the bridge when they were young. It was almost like second nature.

He sensed in her tone that she seemed to be in a panic. It was to be expected, really, with all the commotion surrounding her and with the festival drawing in within less than a day.

Squinting his eyes hard, he slowly made out a pink figure inside of the classroom to his left. When he opened his mouth to call out to her, he immediately closed it short after.

"Sakura, I need you to oversee our work with the banner when you've got the time."

"-Sakura, I think the lanterns need a different kind of light inside of them or they won't be bright enough. Did we get anything on that?"

"I'll come over in a bit, Misaki-chan. I just need to pop out for a second." The pink-haired girl exclaimed, "-As for the lanterns, I think they'll look better if its a bit dimmer anyways. Be right back- okay?"

Suddenly, the Uchiha blinked as a pink blob rushed out of the classroom and past his vicinity before he had a chance to react. When he turned his heavy head around to look for her, she was nowhere to be seen once again.

"Sasuke-kun? Is something the matter?" Karin inquired, poking her head in front of his eye nets so he could see her.

He hesitated to respond for a second, but finally closed his eyes in defeat.

"It's nothing."

* * *

An hour after the bell had rung for dismissal, Sasuke remained inside of his classroom on the floor in the back of the class, exhausted out of his mind.

It was strange to see the class this way, stripped of all desks and replaced with round tables in addition to two or four chairs on each side. Like this, the room looked a lot bigger than it had been when they were going through lessons. He'd take his time in observing what had actually been done to it throughout the day, but this costume was still stuck on his body, which meant that he still had some trouble seeing things clearly.

The thing was getting extremely stuffy, too. But there was nothing that could be done until that idiot comes back for him like he said he would. So he waited.

The sky had already taken up a golden color by the time most people had left the school. Karin ended up hanging around him for a lot longer than either of them expected. Maybe he was already used to her following him around just like she did in the shinobi world. The two of them mainly roamed the hallways and poked themselves in random classrooms, to which he regretted each time students would flock themselves towards the cat mascot.

On the contrary, when he thought about the pink-haired girl, he realized he never managed to get in touch with her at all throughout the day. At this time, she must've already gone home. It was a strange feeling, not having her around.

.. But he's done it for so long, it should also be something he's used to. So why now?

Dropping the thought and leaning the heavy cat head against the wall, he felt his exhaustion begin to take him over, closing his eyes for a brief rest.

"What a day…"

Suddenly, he shot his eyes open at the sound of a voice belonging to the person he had just been pondering about. As he sat still in his spot, he felt the pink-haired girls' presence as she took the space next to him on the floor, sliding down from the wall with a soft thud.

Aa. There you are.

"I'm completely exhausted. I didn't know being someone like the class president could wear a person out like this."

Sasuke maintained his silence, listening to her converse.

"It doesn't look too bad, eh? I'd say we did a pretty good job on our classroom."

It was rather frustrating that he wasn't able to make eye contact with her as she spoke.

"-And you did a really good job with helping everybody fix up their costumes, Ino."

At this, the Uchiha paused all of his thoughts, his lips parting at her words.

Sakura grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I hope you're okay with wearing the mascot for the festival tomorrow. I'll make sure to let you and Hisako-chan switch after lunch so you can do some serving too. But hey, I have to admit it looks pretty cute on you!"

Oh. So she didn't know that Shikamaru borderline assaulted him this morning to get him in this thing.

Despite so, he opted to keep his silence without moving an inch. From the outside, it seemed as if the pink-haired girl were speaking to a giant cat plushie.

Sakura also leaned her head against the wall, her chin slightly tilted into the air. "I hope it all goes well tomorrow. There were a few things that made me a little bit nervous today.."

You probably did fine.

"-Well, I'm just happy that I managed to pull through. I haven't told you guys, but events like this make me feel at peace. That is, when everybody comes together and spends time with one another."

He couldn't remember the last time he felt that way.

She paused a moment before hooding her eyes, "Things.. are bit difficult right now, at the place where I came from.."

The Uchiha thought back to his attempt at hurting her, his declaration of becoming Hokage, up until the moment he placed her under his genjutsu.

"-I don't know how much longer I'll get to stay by Sasuke-kun's side."

Yet, at the end of the day, all she cared about was whether or not he'd still be able to sit with her like this.

Sasuke appeared neither surprised nor empathetic, but swallowed once as he stared blankly ahead of him.

Sakura widened her eyes, suddenly flustered. "A-Anyways, I talked too much. These are just some random things I worry about here and there- Ah! Don't tell anyone about it, okay?"

She felt relief as the mascot gave a single nod.

"Thanks, Ino. You really are a good friend.."

The Uchiha remained silent, anticipating her next words. However, she didn't seem to continue from where she left off. At this, Sasuke slowly turned his heavy head to the side to steal a glance at the pink-haired girl, who was now fast asleep with her head tilted slightly up against the wall.

Within the close distance between them, he was able to see all of her features clearly, her shallow breathing falling up and down with intricate motions.

A second wave of exhaustion ran through him as he observed the pink-haired girl to himself. Without hesitation, he too closed his eyes and leaned back on the wall to find some rest.

"You don't have to worry about anything right now." He says out loud in a quiet voice through her tiny breaths.

Just as he was about to give in to sleep, a sudden weight dropped onto his shoulder, taking him by surprise. When he shot his eyes back open and looked to the side at the pink blob resting on his shoulder, he contemplated discreetly moving her back in place. However, as he felt his lids begin to grow heavy once more, the Uchiha gave in on the brink of unconsciousness and let his own head slowly slide onto the top of hers. The sun gleamed through the dusky sky as it breathed through the window and onto the round tabletops. Small particles of dust scattered around, showcasing themselves in the light with every rhythmic breeze of the curtains.

And for the first time in a long time, he managed to fall asleep with ease.


	17. Part XVII: Welcome to our Festival

**Previous Chapter Summary:** On the last day before the festival, Sasuke had finished his tasks early and opted to look for Sakura, only to realize she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he spends most of the day with Karin in a ninja cat costume made by Shikamaru, who had forced him to model it until the end of school. After the hectic day, Sakura finds Sasuke in the classroom who she mistakes for Ino, and the two of them share a small conversation before giving up to sleep in amidst of the sunset.

 **A/N:** Sometime in between my crapload of work to do, I've found a bit of time to get this chapter done. Enjoy!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XVII: Welcome to our Festival

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* * *

"I wonder what this place is.."

"It says its a cafe."

Amidst the grounds of Tokyo Gakuen, a mysteriously obscure classroom resided on the third floor of its premise, almost as if it were intentionally hidden from the livelihood of the other festivities. As one approaches the doorway, a large, ominous grey cat stood without lifting a finger- or _paw_ , to greet it's customers but instead gave respects with a slow, half-bow.

The two customers exchanged amused glances with one another before engaging in the hospitality of the large feline. Without any words, the mascot led them through the classroom door leading to a tiny, but comfy lobby area with a few wooden chairs and a tiny, dimly-lit counter on the side.

Upon entering, the cafe appeared to have a completely different atmosphere compared to the frantic hallways of the school. The two girls awed at the dark, mysterious feeling of the place that was dimly-lit with translucent paper lanterns and bamboo shoot dividers separating the entrance from the main cafe area.

The shorter girl peeked through one of the walls at the cafe tables, stealing a look at the customers who seemed to be enjoying themselves along with the hospitality of different servers dressed in themed costumes. Letting out a starry-eyed, tiny gasp, the girl revelled at the sight of dark tabletops placed strategically around the room with wooden stools instead of classroom chairs. At the center of each table was a tiny flickering candle with multiple lanterns on the roof for additional light.

"Just the two of you?"

The tiny girl suddenly froze at the low, intimidating voice coming from the counter. As she turned around slowly, she made eye contact with a dark figure lurking in the shadows of the lobby who appeared to be glaring at her ominously. As he stepped closer into the dim light and upon closer inspection, the girl felt her face heat up at the sight of a handsomely dressed Shinobi.

The raven-haired boy tilted his head slightly, starting to feel impatient at her lack of response. The girl instead eyed his broad shoulders that stuck out from the sleeveless midnight black shirt that covered his neck and hugged his skin generously. On either of his arms were matching sleeves lined with gold rims, and on the bottom he wore loose-fitted pants with a pair of dark Geta sandals. Tied around one of his toned arms was a metal plate on a cloth indicating the symbol of a plate and two cutleries on each side.

"I said, is it just the two of you?"

The girls continued to stare as he repeated himself through a black bandana that covered his nose and mouth leaving his obsidian orbs sharp and free, although it was thin enough for his voice to be heard. His entire outfit blended in so well with the darkness that he was completely unseen by the two of them when they had entered.

"Sasuke-kun."

Just as he started to get annoyed with the two girls, the Uchiha shifted his gaze to meet viridian orbs from the corner of the bamboo divider.

"I told you, you have to speak a little bit nicer if you don't want to scare the customers away." Sakura pushed the divider aside and walked through to the front, stealing the attention from him in a flash. "And to think you landed a customer service job.."

The Uchiha simply clicked his tongue at his companion's comment. Meanwhile, the two girls admired the sight of the pink-haired girl, who was dressed in a way that was worthy of the title of a cherry blossom princess. Sakura wore a short, white silk kimono-like outfit with black thigh highs that showed off the length of her creamy legs. Soft rose-colored flowers decorated the blank canvas of her kimono and strategically along the loose sleeves for a feminine design. Her headband was worn on the top of her head, just as she'd prefer it.

Without further delay, Sakura led the two customers into the sanctuary with a wholesome grin. The raven-haired man watched from the corner of his eye as the customers followed her towards a two-seater at the center of the cafe where they quickly settled down with ease.

"Sakura-chan is pretty good at this huh?"

Sasuke turned to the voice of the shadow user who had appeared next to him, and tried hard not to cringe at the look of his get-up. Shikamaru stood with his hands clutched on either of his hips, showing off his costume which was disturbingly similar to the green spandex Sasuke had known from back in Konoha. Additionally, he had red strips of fabric wrapped around his eyes where tiny holes were cut for him to see, as well as surrounding his knees and arms. His dinner plate headband was shown off at his waist in a proud manner.

"I see you're simply at a loss for words at my costume. Well, don't hold back. What do you think?" Shikamaru grinned at his outfit and leaned into the Uchiha as if he were telling a secret. "You ever seen _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?_ "

"You stand out too much." The raven-haired boy muttered, unamused.

"But of course. That's the whole point of the welcome festival! To stand out and make a statement!" Shikamaru beamed nonetheless before taking a peek at the inside of the cafe. "Speaking of standing out- a lot of customers seem to be quite smug over Sakura-chan. Not bad for attracting customers, right?"

Sasuke turned the direction Shikamaru was looking in, immediately noting a group of males at an adjacent table of where his companion stood who eyed the pink-haired girl up and down in a predatory manner. Sakura continued to make conversation with the two girls she had brought in, oblivious to her surroundings.

"Oh, by the way, you're not on shift this afternoon, right?" Shikamaru suddenly asked, earning the Uchiha's attention back towards the front.

"No. Why?"

"There's just this senior who's coming back to visit for the festival. We were all pretty friendly with eachother back in the day. I'd ask Sakura or someone else to help me out on this but they're all pretty busy at this time.. so I was hoping you'd be free to play tour guide in the afternoon. We gotta show our seniors what became of the class they used to be in!"

At the nature of his request, the Uchiha immediately scowled. "You seem to be asking a lot from me nowadays."

Shikamaru didn't appear phased by his foul attitude, but instead found further amusement in his displeasure. "Are you still upset about the mascot thing? You looked really _kawaii_ if I do say so myself!"

"Shut up."

"Please, Sasuke- _chan_. I'll treat you to ramen after the festival!"

Sasuke loomed in silence for awhile, completely ignorant towards the shadow users request. However, not long after, the Uchiha realized if he turned him down now, Shikamaru would probably spend the rest of the afternoon annoying him about it and bombarding him with more favours. Annoyingly enough, he was probably the one person around here that would give him any amount of trouble with absolutely no fear or second thought.

Perhaps it would also be a smart idea to speak to more people outside of the school. That way, he wouldn't be restricting his information to those within Tokyo Gakuen. It would help optimize their way out of this world.

"You owe me another."

"Hooray! Thanks, Sasuke, you're a great dude. Ah- I need to check on my tables now. I'll catch you later."

The Uchiha observed as his classmate then dove back into the cafe area. For a brief moment, he caught the pink-haired girls' gaze, in which she gave him a quick head-tilted smile before reverting her attention back at the customers. At this, Sasuke simply closed his eyes and turned away.

"Is this the right place?"

"I think so. The one with the new transfer student, right? I heard she's such a catch!"

The raven-haired boy remained apathetic, but concentrated his attention on the conversation at the front of the door where two tall male students had appeared from the hall.

"Ahh.. I can't get a good look to see if she's here." One of them attempted to peer past the bamboo shoot divider from where he stood.

"Look harder. Apparently she's the one with the short kimono. Usui said got a real nice view of her earlier."

The Uchiha hardened his expression at the subject of their conversation. Hearing his ex-teammate being talked about like that felt strange to him. Perhaps it was because he himself as a male had never taken a good look at her that way- for the color of her hair and the way her body was shaped. Instead, he'd much rather appreciate the fierce, determined expression she has when she stands up for what she believes in, and the scars he knows she probably has from countless battles as a female Kunoichi.

"Wait, there's a host. _Table for two_ , please."

.. That's why it was rather disgusting to hear things like that.

Sasuke pretended to notice them for the first time and subsequently gazed at them in a bored manner- his chin slightly tilted a bit higher than usual.

"There's no more room."

"What? But I see a couple of tables ove-"

"There's. No. Room."

The two males, both taller than the Uchiha looked at eachother in confusion at the raven-haired boy's hostile tone.

"Sasuke-kun, why are you giving them such a hard time?"

The pink-haired girl suddenly appeared by his side once more, and much to the delight of the two males. She greeted the customers with a genuine smile, at which Sasuke simply narrowed his eyes and gave up, diverting his attention elsewhere.

After conversing with them for awhile longer, Sakura led the two of them towards the cafe, pausing as she were about to walk past the Uchiha.

"It'll get busier from now on for lunch. Are you going to be okay by yourself at the front?" She inquired, wrinkling her brows with worry.

Before giving her a response, he shot the two males behind her a tantalizing glare, immediately earning their fear. He'd much rather continue picking on them for awhile longer, but as he directed his gaze back towards the confused viridian-eyed girl, he closed his eyes and simply gave in.

"Aa."

At his single nod, the pink-haired girl responded with a grin before continuing her lead inside the cafe. After watching her seat the two students inside, the Uchiha reverted his gaze back to the lobby to serve the next guests.

* * *

"It's finally break time.." The Hyuuga exclaimed, stretching her arms up in the air in relief.

"And what do you know? The cafe turned out to be a success!" She adds in a voice too proud, grinning at Sasuke and Sakura as the three of them lounged around a couple of chairs in the back of the class away from the commotion. Hinata showed off a tight-fitted black jumpsuit with bandages on her sleeves, her headband loosely hanging from her neck.

The pink-haired girl slouched against her seat, taking another breath before opening her eyes with a grin.

"I'm glad it seems to be turning out well."

"-You're lucky to be done with your shift."

The three of them turned their heads towards Katsuya, who popped up beside them in an all-white outfit including white joggers and a traditional muscle shirt that matched with the off-white color of his hair, bringing out the iridescence of his blue eyes.

The two girls greeted the boy accordingly, while the Uchiha remained indifferent towards his presence. In the silver-haired boy's hand was a tiny plate with a couple of rice balls, all made to be shaped like shurikens made with black rice.

"Quite creative of our chefs. Try one."

Katsuya picked a rice ball from the plate and walked closer to Sakura, holding it towards her mouth suggestively. Without giving it a second thought, she took the small onigiri into her mouth with a single bite. At this, Hinata gave the pink-haired girl a sly grin, much to Sakura's confusion as she chomped at her food in satisfaction. Sasuke, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows before looking elsewhere.

"..So, apparently they have some really cute things in 2-B." Hinata changed the subject.

"Really? Like what?"

"I've heard they've got a costume shop going on. All of their items are hand-made by the students and they're all really talented! There's also a photo-booth class next to it."

"Is that so?" Sakura's expression appeared to light up after swallowing the last bit of the rice ball down her throat. "Maybe I should go have a look.."

From the corner of his eye, the silver-haired boy picked up on her interest.

"I'm almost finished up my shift. If you don't mind the wait, do you want to go have a look together?"

At his invitation, Sakura's lips parted in hesitation as she flickered her gaze from Katsuya and then instinctively towards her two audience members, particularly at the Uchiha who slouched in his chair with his hands in his pockets.

Truthfully, she had actually meant to ask Sasuke if he was willing to accompany her during their break. She looked at the raven-haired boy regretfully for a second before turning away.

"Sure, I don't mind."

The Uchiha's ears perked at her response.

"I have to stick around for a bit of clean up anyways, so I can wait for you."

"Alright." Katsuya nodded, grinning before turning back towards the cafe. "I'll see you in a bit then."

As he disappeared back to into the crowds, Hinata raised an eyebrow at Sakura questionably, earning a sheepish glance from her friend in return. "What?"

"Nothing. I'll come find you later- I'm gonna go out to see if my friend is here."

Sakura bidded the Hyuuga goodbye, while the Uchiha gave a nod at her departure. With the two of them remaining, the pink-haired girl couldn't help but detect a strange, sour ambience from her companion. Or was it just her imagination?

Without the chance to make further conversation, Chouji had appeared in front of them this time, interrupting their silence.

"Sasuke, a girl is here looking for you."

"Who is it?" The two of them wondered in succession, the Uchiha shooting Sakura a brief look of confusion at her eagerness.

"Not sure. From the looks of it, it seems like the person you were hanging out with yesterday."

Sakura appeared surprised by this fact, while the curiosity on Sasuke's face immediately dissipated.

Chouji grinned after noticing the bothered expression on the Uchiha. "What's the matter? Don't think that nobody saw you. Anyways, go see her quickly."

When Chouji disappeared, the two of them continued to sit in their silence for a minute longer before Sakura took in a breath, adopting a rather enthusiastic tone in her voice.

"You, hanging out with a girl?"

"..I'll be back."

Sasuke suddenly stood from his seat, dismissing himself from the pink-haired girl in a flash and headed towards the front of the cafe.

Sakura, on the other hand, was a bit appalled at his eagerness. He gave her so much trouble awhile ago for hanging out with someone and now he goes and does the same, _while she was working her ass off the day before the festival?_

With this in mind, she immediately stood up herself, striding towards the vicinity of the entrance in a quickened pace.

As the Uchiha paused at the door, the pink-haired girl ducked nearby at a makeshift counter where she began collecting pieces of trash into a garbage bag. After a few seconds, she slowly gazed up to peek at Sasuke and the mysterious girl.

Immediately, she caught sight of Karin, who stopped just outside of the door to chat with the Uchiha in front of her. After observing the two of them for a few seconds, Sakura bit her lip nervously, feeling her heart slowly sink deeper.

If she remembered correctly, that girl seemed like she was also in love with Sasuke back in the Shinobi world. They obviously spent a lot of time together throughout the time he was.. well, not with Team 7. After all, he was willing for her to stay by his side instead of..

 _"Take me with you."_

The pink-haired girl shook her head, ridding the unnecessary thoughts and continued to listen in further.

"I promised I'd come visit you, Sasuke-kun. It's quite an event you got going on here!" The red-haired girl blushed at the sight of the Uchiha's shoulders, which stood out to the pleasure of her eyes upon his arrival.

"Did you need me for something?" He ignored her comments and spoke in a calm manner.

"Ah- no" Karin continued, slightly taken aback by his straightforwardness.

"In that case, I need to get back to work."

"Wait!"

Just as he turned to go back inside, the red-haired girl reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping his stride successfully. Witnessing the sight from afar, Sakura let out a tiny gasp and dropped a piece of trash from her hands.

"A-Actually," Karin started again, surprised at her own assertiveness. "Sasuke-kun, I was wondering if you'd want to come and have a look around the festival with me."

Upon hearing her words, the pink-haired girl froze, now feeling her heart at the pit of her stomach. At this point, anyone could tell what the situation was like.

The Uchiha appeared frozen in his position, hesitating a response to Karin's request. Just as the red-haired girl were about to speak again, she let go of his arm at the detection of a small shake from the raven-haired boy urging for his release.

"I have to help our class president with clean up and money count. I won't be available for the day."

The pink-haired girl's ears perked once more, detecting his lie immediately.

"Really.." Karin's eyes shifted downwards in disappointment. A moment later, she clutched the hem of her skirt and closed her eyes before bursting, "U-Uhm then, Sasuke-kun, please hear me out!"

The Uchiha once again froze at the new relevation. Sakura, too, gasped at the situation knowing full well what was about to follow.

A group of customers suddenly huddled themselves around her vicinity, hindering her ability to hear the rest of their conversation. At this, the pink-haired girl frowned and continued to observe Sasuke's back and Karin's expressions, attempting to inference her way through. It wasn't until she swore she made a moment's eye contact with Karin's disappointed expression that she quickly jolted the other direction and immersed herself in tying up garbage bags.

After a few more minutes, the Uchiha once again appeared by her side, grabbing one of the bags beside her and began tying it up. Sakura watched him from the corner of her eye until he managed to catch her gaze, to which she quickly reverted her attention back to the bags.

"So it appears you've been successful in making new friends." She said, attempting to break the silence. Instead of being given a response, the Uchiha gave her a look that insisted he knew she had been watching.

At this, Sakura grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I overheard."

It didn't really bother him. "What of it?"

He passed her a finished bag, to which she took into her hands willingly and proceeded to work on the next one.

"You lied to her, though. You're on break."

"Aa."

"You didn't have to use me as a way out, you know. It seemed like she was really interested in you." Sakura spoke slowly. Unbeknownst to her, the Uchiha managed to detect the nervousness hidden in her voice.

He closed his eyes as he finished tying the last bag with a single wring of his wrist, passing it to her once again with ease.

"Between the two of you, I'd rather have you to deal with."

At his words, Sakura suddenly felt her heart thumping faster. Was that supposed to be a compliment of some sort?

Sasuke immediately took note of her flustered expression, realizing the vague meaning of his words.

"-I also have to help Shikamaru out with something in the afternoon. So it was inevitable."

 _Okay._ Sakura grinned and managed a chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing. It just seems like Shikamaru is really attached to you- it's nice to see." She explained, "Really, I'm glad that this whole thing seems to be working out for you somehow."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He watched as she took an abnormally large amount of bags into each hand, lifting them up from the ground with ease.

"Nothing. Anyways, I'll be back after taking these out." Sakura said, starting herself towards the door. The Uchiha tore his gaze off of her and picked up a tiny cloth from the side before beginning to wipe the counter.

Throughout her walk, she continued to ponder the Uchiha's words from earlier until she managed to convince herself that she was probably just overthinking it as usual. She had a knack for trying to make assumptions about things that turned out to be actually, quite the opposite. It was a bad habit, really, even though it did make her happy for that brief moment.

Deciding not to dwell on it any further, Sakura threw away her thoughts with a smile and exited the class with a tiny skip, only to suddenly freeze and send the bags of garbage crashing onto the ground.

Sasuke lifted his gaze at the sound from the lobby area, catching the pink-haired girl's paused gesture in the doorway.

Without moving her eyes, she turned her head slightly towards the Uchiha's direction, her lips slowly moving with her speech. "Can you come here for a second?"

"Throwing trash out isn't a two person job."

"Sasuke-kun."

The Uchiha didn't respond, but instead heard the growing seriousness in her voice. Deciding not to inquire further, he immediately followed her request and drew himself towards the door.

As he finally reached her side, his feet came to a stop as he shifted his head to the side to follow her gaze. When he managed to pinpoint exactly where her eyes landed, he too became entranced in a blur.

Sakura moved a little to face the Uchiha. "Is that.." She stuttered, looking at him for some kind of confirmation.

Suddenly, the shadow-user appeared at the scene from inside the classroom, his eyes lighting up as soon as he joined the stares. "Ah! You made it, senpai!"

As Shikamaru ran past the raven-haired boy, his greeting rang through Sasuke's head like a dull buzz. Everything else suddenly became silent after that as he continued his long gaze at the person standing a few feet in front of them.

With a slow parting of his lips, he attempted to speak but struggled to breathe out the name of the one familiar person among the small group of strangers.

 _Nii-san._


	18. Part XVIII: More than one familiar face

**Previous Chapter Summary:** Tokyo Gakuen's welcome festival has now commenced. Karin, who stopped by the Ninja Cafe, asks Sasuke out on a date at the festival but is rejected soon after. Sakura on the other hand, agrees to hangout with Katsuya after their shift. Meanwhile, the two ninjas encounter an unexpected guest..

 **A/N:** Hi everyone! It's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry to leave you all hanging. I went on vacation earlier this year and came back feeling pretty stressed out about some things. Now that I have some down time before school starts again, I'll be continuing my work with this fic. You have my word that you will definitely see the end of this story, I've got everything planned out already so its just a concern of whether or not I have time to write it.. ya girl's in too deep to call it quits.

I apologize if some parts may sound funny or strange, I tried to get the editing done as fast as I could so I may have rushed a bit.

Enjoy!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XVIII: More than one familiar face

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"Itachi."

Sakura says the name of the older Uchiha in a low, mellow voice amidst the chatty students moving about in the hallway.

The two ninjas continued to eye Sasuke's supposedly dead brother, as Itachi himself casually engaged in conversation with the shadow user and a couple of strangers in his group from afar.

Evidently, this was no illusion. The other sharingan user was indeed a few feet away from them and looked as alive as ever. Sasuke himself could confirm the midnight black hair similar to his own. The older Uchiha had the same gentle, subtle smile Sasuke rarely saw as a teen- not until the final moments of his brothers life.

Suddenly, a pair of obsidian orbs lifted their gaze up and stared back at the younger Uchiha, the two brothers immediately locking eyes. He hadn't realized it, but Sasuke held his breath for awhile now. A strange feeling enveloped the younger Uchiha as he looked at his brothers doppelgänger in a perplexed manner. Memories of their past suddenly rushed through him as he noted the features of his brother's face just like how he remembered it.

How come his nii-san was also staring at him as if he knew it as well?

Shikamaru suddenly turned towards the two ninjas, waving his arm in excitement as he urged them to go over.

"Why is he asking for us?" Sakura nervously whispered in a mortified expression, without moving an inch.

"Shikamaru asked me for a favor earlier today to show an alumni around for the afternoon." Sasuke explained in a low voice, "This must be him."

" _What?_ " Sakura exclaimed in a hushed voice. "How uncanny.. rather, didn't it seem like he recognized you a few seconds ago?"

"I know." The raven-haired boy muttered back, his expression unwavering. "I had that kind of feeling as well."

Sakura paused for a moment, taking a tiny gulp.

"Sasuke-kun, you don't think… you don't think theres a _you_ here, do you?"

"Logically speaking, it wouldn't be surprising if there was." Sasuke explained. "If Tokyo really is an alternate universe, then it's plausible that we may also run into _us_."

"Is that even possible? For two of the same existence to be present at the same place and time?" Sakura furrowed her brows, "It doesn't make sense. If so.. wouldn't that immediately put us in a dangerous situation?"

"There's only one way to find out."

"W-Wait-"

Without further hesitation, Sasuke began striding towards the older Uchiha. Instinctively, Sakura reached out a hand to urge him back, but retreated once she realized she was in no place to stop him. A tiny, anxious feeling began to stir in her chest. Just a habit of reacting to uncertainty.

Although she was unaware of what exactly transpired between the two of them back in the Shinobi world, when it came to his nii-san, Sasuke tended to lose all reason.

Shikamaru greeted the younger Uchiha upon his arrival. "Hey yo, Sas-"

Before the shadow user could complete his greeting, the raven-haired boy suddenly pulled him aside, facing away from the older Uchiha who now stood in confusion.

"What's the deal?" Shikamaru inquired loudly.

"Shikamaru." Sasuke began strongly, in a voice only the Nara could hear. "For today, let's change my name."

"What? What are you-" Shikamaru's confused expression suddenly turned into a smirk upon realization. "I see. Sasuke, you sly fox! I didn't know you were that much into roleplaying! No need to be shy about it.."

The raven-haired boy gritted his teeth, closing his eyes to give the shadow user a hard pinch on his arm to keep his voice down. A loud shriek from his friend earned a few confused looks from the older Uchiha and the pink-haired girl from afar.

"Fine fine, let's hear it." Shikamaru complied with a whisper, "What's your _OC's_ name?"

"Sousuke." The younger Uchiha said in a serious, coveted tone. "Sousuke Uchida."

"Wow. Your creativity is just out of this world."

Sasuke shot the shadow user a brief glare before Shikamaru turned back towards Itachi, who had been waiting on the side with a calm smile. At the same time, Sakura had made her way to join the group and greeted the older Uchiha with a reserved smile.

"Itachi-senpai," He started, "These two are my good friends- Sakura, our new class president, and _Sousuke_ , another one of our new classmates! He'll be the one to accompany you for the day while the rest of us are still at it for the time being."

The Uchiha siblings slightly glanced at one another in a cautious manner.

"Nice to meet you; Sakura, Sousuke. I'm Itachi." The older Uchiha begins with a gentle smile before turning to Sasuke. "And I apologize for bothering you today."

"It's fine." Sasuke closed his eyes instinctively, in fear of revealing too much in his expression.

His brother's doppelgänger very closely resembled the real thing.

"Sas- _Sousuke-chan_ is a little shy so you'll have to pry things out of him for a little bit~"

The younger Uchiha immediately scowled at this remark, earning a playful look from the shadow user. Watching the two of them, Sakura and Itachi simply stood and smiled in a formal manner.

The older Uchiha then turned to the pink-haired girl. "I heard both of you are new to the school this year. Could it be that the two of you are.."

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged brief glances at the older Uchiha's insinuation. Immediately, Sakura's face turned red while Sasuke simply closed his eyes and shifted his head to the side.

"N-No! Not at all!" The pink-haired girl shook her head madly, waving her hands in front of her. "It was.. just a coincidence." _It really was._

"Is that so? I apologize for the assumption. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"No worries." Sakura grinned sheepishly. _He seems like a pretty genuine person.._

"I'll go change my clothes first, then." Sasuke shifted the mood.

As he turned around to face the classroom, Sakura caught his eye in which the two of them exchanged slight nods. A few seconds later, the raven-haired boy disappeared back into the cafe.

* * *

Half hour later, Sakura tossed the last few bags of trash before clapping her hands together, finally relieved of her duties. As she turned back in the direction of the busy hallway, her eyebrows soon furrowed in worry.

Is Sasuke really going to be okay with his brother, alone?

The pink-haired girl sighed, closing her eyes and raising her head towards the ceiling in frustration. Just as she was about to turn and enter the classroom, she let out a loud gasp as a her body came in hard contact with someone, sending her crashing to the ground.

"AH! Sorry sorry, are you okay?"

Sakura rubbed the side of her arm, catching her breath from the sudden fall. "SERIOUSLY, I'm going to freakin kill you, Naru-"

 _Naruto?_ It wasn't until a few seconds later that she registered the familiar voice that she had instinctively responded to.

Immediately, she shot her eyes open to confirm her suspicions. There she was, face-to-face with a guy that had the same dumb expression as the idiot she could call her best friend.

His cerulean blue eyes shone at her, wide and concerned, while she analyzed the rest of his features. No doubt, from his bright blonde hair down to the mysterious whiskers, everything was correctly in place.

 _So you've finally shown your face around here._ Sakura nearly smirked.

Now just what was he like in this world? This should be fun.

"Dammit, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault- I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you okay?"

Sakura held her breath as the Uzumaki peered below, stretching out a hand towards the pink-haired girl. For a second, she sworn her heart neatly skipped a beat.

What's with that? The idiot seemed to be quite a gentleman.

Without further ado, Sakura placed her hands into his, letting him pull her back to her feet in a quick, smooth manner.

"Naruto-kun?"

The Byakugan princess suddenly appeared behind the blonde, sticking her head out from his back. Upon noticing Sakura in front, the Hyuuga quickly greeted her friend with a smile. "Oh, so I see you've become acquainted already!"

"Eh? Is this the Sakura-chan I was supposed to meet? Man.. I bumped into her pretty hard just now. I think she's okay though; hopefully I didn't do too much damage." Naruto scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. At this, Sakura couldn't help but giggle to herself. It was strange to see Naruto rid of his usual shenanigans and acting like a proper, wary man. _I could get used to this._

The Uzumaki slowly leaned himself near the Byakugan princess's ear in a whispering motion, his eyes narrowing skeptically into tiny slits along with flared nostrils.

"I was practicing my manners just now, but to be honest I think she's kinda into me."

Sakura continued to grin wholesomely.

"-She was staring at me funny and all for awhile. It must be my handsome looks and charismatic aura, right? _-ttebayo_."

The pink-haired girl gritted her teeth, her eyebrows furrowing as she maintained her high smile.

"-She's kinda cute. But the more I look at it, her forehead is a little big.."

On second thought, judging by his impeccable ability to _piss her off,_ it was clear that he indeed, unfortunately, was the same.

"Say that again!?" Sakura exploded, the blonde immediately jumping behind the Hyuuga for protection. Hinata stood, confused about the situation.

"S-Sorry!" The pink-haired girl apologized immediately upon realizing her absurd reaction. She tried to keep her eye from twitching despite having heard his rude comment. "Just remembered some bad memories. Haha!"

"Okay then, weirdo." Hinata poked. "Well, this is the person I wanted you to meet." Hinata started again, Naruto appearing from behind, grinning his stupid grin as he lifted his hand up into a peace sign. "This is Naruto. He doesn't go to this school but we've been good friends for a long time."

"Is that so?" Sakura immediately straightened up her sour expression, genuinely surprised. Watching his childish persona managed to tug a smile on her face. For some reason, she didn't realize right away that she felt a sense of relief, the weight on her shoulders disappearing.

Like she was home. That's the kind of effect he had on her as a comrade.

Pushing the matter from earlier aside, the pink-haired girl retrieved a new attitude towards the blonde. "I'm Sakura, it's nice to meet you and welcome to our festival!"

"Ehh.. thanks!" Naruto gave a slit-eyed grin. "It's been awhile since I've gone to one of these things!"

"Your school doesn't hold one?" Sakura inquired.

"Ah… I'm actually not in school right now. It's a long story!"

"Oh, I see." Sakura raised an eyebrow, deciding not to question it further. Now that she looked at it, Naruto wasn't wearing a uniform of any sort, but instead wore a simple white t-shirt with dark blue jeans.

"Will the two of you be hanging out for the rest of the afternoon?" She started again.

"Of course! I heard there's a ramen stall outside, I didn't come here just to miss that! _Dattebayo!_ "

Sakura chuckled at his overly excited tone, while Hinata rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, I'll catch you later Sakura. I don't want to keep you from your date with the silver prince." The byakugan princess leaned into the pink-haired girl, giving her a tiny smirk.

"Nani, nani?" Naruto popped his head in between them, looking from his friend to Sakura with keen interest.

"It's _nothing_ , really." Sakura emphasized, shooting Hinata a playful grin herself. "Hinata should be focusing on her own plate, that's all. I'll see you two around."

The pink-haired girl watched with content as the two of them started their walk in the the opposite direction. Naruto and Hinata grinned at one another, exchanging laughs when one of them mentioned something funny.

 _Not a bad sight._ Sakura giggled.

When the Uzumaki returned his gaze ahead of him, Sakura's expression suddenly tightened and her brows began to furrow.

 _A blonde boy.._ The pink-haired girl returned her memories to the several times she caught sight of a person with similar, striking yellow hair down the Tokyo streets. Sakura squinted further, watching as the two of them had suddenly stopped to converse with one another.

The more she looked, the more she could confirm that it was the same person. At the times where she saw him on the street, something felt strange to her but she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

She felt drawn to his presence, as if she had to get a hold of him no matter what.

Sakura continued to watch as Hinata and Naruto now spoke to one another in what seemed like a hushed tone. From the looks on their faces, it seemed to be a serious matter. The Byakugan princess suddenly widened her eyes and placed a hand on the blue-eyed boy's back as he appeared to hold his chest in pain.

In deep thought, the pink-haired girl continued to stare at the two of them until a large hand suddenly placed itself on the top of her head, grasping it into a gentle squeeze.

"You know, some people might deem people-watching as a little creepy." Katsuya said in a bored tone as he showed himself beside her, watching the two from ahead in the same manner as the pink-haired girl.

Sakura looked at him with an annoyed expression before flicking his hand off of her head. She quickly shook her thoughts away. "You're finished with your duties?"

"Yeah. Anywhere you want to go in particular?"

"Aren't you the one who asked me to accompany you?"

Katsuya paused, thinking to himself for a moment. "In that case, are you into superstition? Why don't we go see the psychic downstairs? I heard she's crazy accurate." He suddenly leaned into the pink-haired girls' ear with a smirk.

" _Think we might be compatible?_ "

"Compatible my _ass_ " Sakura slapped the side of his arm, earning a painful groan from the silver-haired boy.

"Tough woman." Katsuya murmured as he continued to rub his arm. He managed to compose himself a short while after. "I'll take that as a yes to my invitation."

The silver-haired boy walked ahead first, shoving his hands in his pockets in a nonchalant manner. He paused for a brief moment, turning back to give her a brief look. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat first."

Sakura rolled her eyes, murmuring something to herself about his presumptuous behavior. Nevertheless, she followed him from behind.

* * *

The two brothers walked shoulder-distance apart down the hall, neither of them turning to make conversation with one another. Instead, Itachi appeared to enjoy looking through the different classrooms and observing their activities before moving on to the next. As they strode past the busy classrooms, a few students took notice of their uncanny resemblance to one another and began voicing audible whispers.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel strange. Here he was casually walking with his brother, while not too long ago he himself carried out a devastating act to his own blood. It was almost as if it was a joke; a hilarious one at that.

When they were together so innocently like this, it was as if nothing had ever happened between them. That their lives had been like this all along, picking up from their childhood days when the Uchiha clan was free from plagued hatred.

"I heard you just transferred in this year from the countryside." Itachi finally started, turning his head briefly to give the younger Uchiha a friendly smile, in which Sasuke simply nodded to his statement.

"How do you like Tokyo so far?" Itachi tried again, earning another glance from the younger Uchiha.

"It's different."

"Is that so? I guess you wouldn't be used to it from where you came from."

 _Someone like you wouldn't understand, either._ Sasuke thought. The more they spoke, the more he realized how difficult it was to carry a normal conversation with his brother. He had been antagonizing him all his life that it felt strange to have conversations of such casual nature.

Sasuke allowed a moment of quiet between the two of them before he mustered up the strength to take initiative of the conversation. "Where are you from?"

Itachi showed a subtle smile at Sasuke's curiosity. "Me? I used to live here in Tokyo, but my family and I moved to Osaka after graduation."

At this, Sasuke paused in his steps, his lips parting in surprise as he watched the back of his older brother walk on ahead without him.

His family, he said. The raven-haired boy turned sullen as images of his mother and father enveloped his mind.

"Ah. Things like this are quite intriguing, are they not?"

The younger Uchiha erased his thoughts, bringing his attention towards Itachi's newfound grin at a room to their right. Sasuke nearly cringed at the sight, but forced himself to maintain a neutral composure as he read the sign above the class decorated with bright, fluorescent lightbulbs all around the door. It appeared to be in a language he did not understand, but he recognized it from the subject they learn every other day otherwise known as _Ing-Ga-Leesh_. It was unknown to him as to why this particular language seemed to be rather popular in schools and streets. Below the flashy sign, the younger Uchiha had barely made out the translated Japanese words which indicated it was a Costume  & Photo Booth class.

The two brothers stood beside eachother, letting their eyes be hypnotized by the bedazzling lights for a few seconds before simultaneously blinking back to reality and turning their heads towards one another.

"I bet kids like you get a kick out of these."

Sasuke had trouble feeling as amused as his brother was. He widened his eyes as Itachi began to stride inside the classroom without any hesitancy. The younger Uchiha parted his lips, looking side to side at the commotion in the hall before staring at the door his brother had disappeared to. In a few seconds, he followed.

"Itachi." Sasuke calls out, the name strange on his tongue. As the younger Uchiha walked further inside, his gaze landed on his older brother, who made way behind a large, flashy, boxed-area after speaking to one of the students that ran this class.

The younger Uchiha walked up to his brother, wary of the various sorts of items such as hats, feather boas, and full-on costumes hanging on the side of the photoshoot area with a large green screen at the back. "What are we doing here?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Itachi rummaged through piles of accessories and clothing before picking something out and tossing it towards the younger Uchiha.

"This is-" Sasuke catches the item with a single hand, staring at it with disgust. "I'm not wearing this."

"You are." Itachi flung a pair of fluffy black, cat ears onto his head, grinning softly. "Life's too short to care what others think. Do you need some help with it?"

"No." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "I refuse-"

Suddenly, the younger Uchiha felt himself being pulled beside his brother. Before he had the chance to react further, he felt the white cat headband being snatched from his hand and shoved onto the top of his head.

"You-" Sasuke spat, looking at his brother in rising anger. "This is child's play."

"Yeah, we're ready." Itachi ignored his comment, raising his hand at the photographer girl in front of them.

"I'm leavi-"

"Ah. What to do? It's already started."

Without having the chance to retort, Sasuke stared at the photographer in horror as a series of flashing photos began to snap once after another. As soon as they finished, Itachi took a slight peek at the camera screen where little thumbnails of their photos were shown. He immediately frowned at the images of the two of them standing with arms to their sides, Itachi grinning and Sasuke's smile nowhere to be found.

"Sousuke. You need to loosen your expression a bit. Whatever happened to you for your face to be so tense like that all the time?"

"Hn." The younger Uchiha growled, heavily annoyed.

Itachi observed his disgruntled expression for a bit before returning to the green screen, stopping to place a hand on the top of the younger Uchiha's head, catching him by surprise.

"One more round" He said to the photographer.

Sasuke jolted his gaze towards his brother, his eyes wide in shock. "Itachi, what are you-"

"If you can't beat em, join em. How about some _peace signs?_ "

" _What?_ Don't be ridiculous."

"I better see a smile on this one or I'll make you pay for all of the food we eat later."

Hearing the camera start up, Sasuke quickly looked from Itachi to the photographer a few times before reluctantly, painfully lifting his hand to mirror Itachi's peace sign while forcing a subtle lift onto either corner of his lips.

After another series of clicks, Sasuke peered at the thumbnails this time, narrowing his eyes at the sight of the two brothers holding peace signs in front of a background full of cartoon animals frolicking along the scenery. Sasuke cringed at the twisted expression he made in front of the camera before shooting a glare towards Itachi, who seemed to be holding in a chuckle with a single hand on the wall.

However, after a few minutes, the frown on his face began to disappear, and the younger Uchiha managed a tiny grin slip onto the corner of his lips. Itachi peered at the raven-haired boy, ceasing his chuckle and replacing it with a benevolent smile.

"We'll take this one." Itachi says to the photographer.

* * *

The raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes at the tiny polaroid in his hand, unsure of what to think of it. After all, never in a million years had he imagined himself in this kind of situation second to being a Tokyo civilian.

"I quite like this." Itachi held up his own copy of the polaroid into the air above, his voice reeking with sarcasm.

The two of them were now outside of the school building where they were encompassed by new surroundings of rows and rows of adjacent food stalls in the courtyard. Various smells enveloped the air, most of in which were unfamiliar to the palette of the ninja.

Sasuke tilted his head towards the sky for a second, realizing the sun was just shy of setting. It didn't feel like the two of them were together for very long at all, but time seemed to have passed by so fast.

"I'm famished. What can we get to eat around here?" Itachi asked the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke gave his brother a slight glance before eyeing the rows of food on either side of them. He hadn't noticed it through their shenanigans earlier, but he too was hungry as well.

Itachi continued to observe as the younger Uchiha glanced around them, as if he were looking for something in particular.

"Do you have something in mind?" He asks out of curiosity.

"Not really. But I'd prefer something with tomatoes."

At this, Itachi's lips parted in surprise, watching for a moment as Sasuke walked on ahead in search of a stall that had tomatoes. After a few seconds, the older Uchiha grinned and pointed behind him.

"I saw one earlier when we came out. Let's take a look there." He called out.

A few moments later, the two of them scurried themselves through hoards of people to line up for their food before finally getting to settle down at a small picnic table along the sidewalk, away from the commotion.

Itachi watched as the younger Uchiha stared at the large tart in front of him, a baked dish with puffy pastry lining the sides with rice, cheese, and tomato in the center. The younger Uchiha appeared to be expressionless, and was rather skeptical of the meal of choice Itachi had chosen for them. But he had to admit, he was awfully curious as to what this strange thing tasted like.

Sasuke slowly brought the item to his mouth, taking a small bite with caution. After a few seconds, he began to take more bites with ease. The older Uchiha grinned at his success.

The two of them stayed like this for a few minutes, eating their food and enjoying nothing but each other's company with the background noise of the festival.

"So any plans after graduation, Sousuke?"

Sasuke paused his chewing momentarily, lifting his black orbs to meet Itachi's eyes. He wasn't sure why this question was such a big deal among civilians. But he went with it.

"Nothing in particular." _That's what Shikamaru always says._

"Is that so? I guess that's pretty common for seniors your age nowadays. Lots of people are still stuck on what they want to do in life."

The younger Uchiha began to chew at a slower pace, contemplating this thought.

"You still live at home with your parents?"

The sudden nature of the question took Sasuke aback.

"They're not around anymore."

"..Is that so? I'm sorry to hear that." Itachi said in a solemn tone. After a moment of awkward silence, the older Uchiha spoke again.

"If it makes you feel any better, I know how that feels. I'm by myself out here, too."

The younger Uchiha's attention suddenly perked.

Itachi was alone here.

Should he question why?

Does he _want_ to know why?

"-But it looks like you have some good people around you. Everyone at Konoha High is really friendly- well, most." Itachi gave a closed-eye grin, "You seemed to be close with the girl you were speaking to earlier. The pink-haired one?"

"Relatively."

"Sorry that I misunderstood you two earlier. Shikamaru told me that she's a new student as well, and that the two of you transferred in together. And then I put two and two together. Seriously, it's my bad."

 _Why does that guy always talk about such unnecessary matters?_ Sasuke thought, ignoring the older Uchiha.

Itachi gulped down a bite of his tart before blurting, "..Unless, she really is your girlfriend."

Clearly, the guy hasn't moved on from the thought. Sasuke choked on his tart, immediately grabbing the bottle of water beside him. After taking in a deep sigh, he continued. "Why are you so obsessed with this? I'm not interested in that sort of thing." He answered before opening it and taking a sip.

"That's what they all say. Just looking out for you." Itachi gave an innocent, cute grin to which Sasuke scowled.

"Fine. I'm just messing with you. In all seriousness, you're still young. You have plenty of a good life ahead of you."

Sasuke nearly threw up a little in his mouth at the nature of this conversation. Was he really sitting here at this picnic table munching on tomato tarts, getting lectured by his recently deceased brother on his nonexistent love life in the middle of a high school festival? How fictional.

"Then what about you?" The younger Uchiha inquired this time, switching the conversation around. "Aren't you supposed to be a graduate? I'm having a hard time believing you suddenly wanted to go to a festival at your old high school and take photos as a passtime."

Itachi seemed to fall silent for a moment. "I don't know. A change of scenery?"

Sasuke didn't buy it.

"People get nostalgic, you know."

"You're more childish than I imagined."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, but showed a tiny grin of amusement. "We haven't even known eachother for that long. What could you have imagined?"

Sasuke's eyes seemed to gleam over for a split second before he closed them, concentrating back on his food.

"You know what you need?" Itachi started again, "Some motivation in life."

"Where is this coming from?"

"You cant fool a senpai, Sousuke. I've only just met you, but you walk around like something has taken the life out of you. I won't ask what happened but I can't imagine it's doing anything good for you."

"You're right. I don't think you can even begin to imagine."

"Well? Give me something to work with."

"I don't think there's anything like that for me."

"No, there has to be."

Itachi appeared to look at their surroundings for a moment, then widened his eyes in realization before turning back to the younger Uchiha with a content expression.

"I found it."

"Found what?"

"Your motivation."

Sasuke narrowed his brows in annoyance. "What exactly are you going on about?"

"Close your eyes. It'll be good."

"This is ridiculous."

"Just do it."

Sasuke practically glared at his brother in skepticism. "It better be good."

"Okay. Now open them."

The younger Uchiha peered both of his eyelids open to find extra sliced tomatoes onto his plate, which Itachi appeared to have picked off from his portion.

"You're more immature than you look." Sasuke says in an unamused tone.

"And you're smiling, so I guess its a start."

The raven-haired boy didn't notice the childish grin on his own face until he jabbed at a tomato slice with his fork, shoving it into his mouth with content.

Food hasn't tasted this good in awhile.


	19. Part XIX: Resolution

**Previous Chapter Summary:** After confirming the person Sasuke was supposed to hangout with for the day was indeed his brother, Itachi, the two Shinobi divert from eachother for a change to do their own thing. Before meeting up with Katsuya, Sakura runs into the familiar face of her dear friend Naruto, who suddenly makes an appearance along with Hinata. Meanwhile, the two Uchiha brothers bond over taking photos and eating tomato dishes.

 **A/N:** Hello, readers! Here's the next instalment of the series, and it's a lot longer than my usual updates. Honestly, I've been stuck on this chapter for so long, but it seemed to have turned out okay.

I actually feel so embarrassed because I managed to re-read some of the old chapters of this story and holy shi- was proofreading nothing to me? Perhaps I will consider making some changes in the far future after I finally see this fic to a close, just to you know, make it more bearable to read. Thank you for putting up with my messiness.

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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 **Tokyo Tempest**

Part XIX: Resolution

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* * *

"So, what's this all about? You don't have any friends at school to hangout with?"

The silver-haired boy released a chuckle at Sakura's distasteful sarcasm before fixing a smug look at viridian-eyed girl. The two of them were the second pair in line at a curtained food stall in the middle of the school courtyard.

"I told you, we have to check how compatible we are as a couple."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at his amused expression, annoyed at his roundabout way of talking. When he asked to spend time with her after their shifts, she thought it was solely out of pure convenience- seeing as they had so much free time that they might as well hangout together. But now that they were here, in line for a dessert snack with couples all around them, she started to feel like this resembled more of a..

 _Date?_ _Did I just accidentally agree to a date with this guy?_ Sakura narrowed her eyes at the suspect with great suspicion. She studied the tall, white-haired boy who had already peeled his gaze off of her to hold up two fingers towards the cashier student in the stall. _No, we're just two classmates strolling along together at a school event. I do this with Naruto all the time._

It didn't really matter to her what this was, anyways. She wasn't stupid; it was obvious that Katsuya had taken some level of liking to her based on his inability to restrain from throwing flirtatious comments at her every few minutes. It was no big deal because this guy was all flirt and no seriousness.

"Red, or yellow?"

Her thoughts were broken as she glanced back up to notice two different colors of glazed candied apples in either of his hands. Without much pondering, she took the yellow one in her hand before they began to migrate out of the line and continuing their walk.

Sakura grinned a closed-eye smile as she bit into the treat on the stick, a tiny crunching noise ensuing as the sweetness poured into her mouth.

"What's this- you're like my little sister when she finally gets to eat her favourite dessert after dinner."

The kunoichi pouted with apple candy pressed on the inside of her cheek. Her expression quickly changed though, at the mention of the little girl. "How's Nami doing?"

"On and off as usual. I took her out to the amusement park the other weekend because she kept nagging at it for the past few days. In the end, we didn't get to go because of the rain, so I had to endure a week's worth of endless whining." The silver-haired boy frowned, bringing the treat to his mouth to suck on the sugary coating.

"On the other hand, she's been asking where you've been."

"Is that so?" Sakura inquired, feeling a bit motherly as she had made such a good impression on a cute little child.

"Yeah. Also- the other night, she decided to watch a documentary on giant spiders even though she's clearly afraid of them. So I had to stay up all night to keep her company.. annoying."

She watched as Katsuya continued to make expressions of displeasure, taking in passive aggressive bites of candy apple in between his words. Despite what he says, though, it sounded like he didn't really mind doing any of those things in the first place. He seemed like a really doting older brother.

"-Oh, right. There's going to be a bonfire tonight to end off the festival."

"Right. What exactly do people do during then?"

"Hmm.. to be honest, I don't really know. They've been doing it every year to end off the festival, so it's just kind of been tradition. I usually skip out on it, but from what I've heard, people just sit around and mingle while roasting some leftover food."

Sakura raised a brow. "You don't go?"

"Why, you want to see me there?" He poked, earning a look of annoyance from the pink-haired girl. "-It's not really my thing. But if you'll be there this year, I might consider making an appearance."

"Heh.." Sakura rolled her eyes. There he goes again.

"Now, where were we planning to go from here.. oh, yeah. The fortune telling place."

"Do we really have to? I'm sure its just a scam, anyway."

The pink-haired girl lifted the treat to her mouth, only to feel a hand grab the stick from above her own grip, pulling the treat away from her.

"Hey, what're you-"

Katsuya leaned in towards the apple, slowly opening his mouth to give it a single bite at its half-eaten top. He retreated soon after, making a single crunch at the piece he had acquired in his cheek.

"Don't make me tell you for the third time, we need to check our compatibility."

He quickly turned the other direction, walking off towards the school building in a nonchalant manner. Sakura's face twisted into something unrecognizable as she tried to register his insolent behaviour. He was obviously trying to have his way with her.

The two of them started back inside of the school, navigating their way through the crowds of people coming and going out of adjacent classrooms. It wasn't long before they found themselves on the second floor, in front of a room with an oversized, purple-painted wooden plaque hanging on top of the doorway. On the sign, painted in makeshift yellow writing decorated with silver sequins were the words " _Psychic Baba_ "

Sakura's eyes traveled below the sign, and then further away as her gaze followed the _huge_ line trailing from the doorway, down the hall, until it snaked around the end of the staircase. At this, the pink-haired girl widened her mouth is dismay.

"Should we really be buying into this scam..?" She mutters with great doubt.

"It's not a scam! We brought in the finest Baba-san to tell everybody's fortunes.. and she's crazy accurate."

A feminine voice exclaimed this from behind them, and the two students swished themselves around to notice somebody Sakura had immediately recognized.

"Karin-san.." She greets her in a low voice, eyes wide to see the girl that had just been rejected by the Uchiha earlier in the day. She watched as Karin shifted her glasses up by the bridge, huffing as she briefly reciprocated the greeting.

"It's you, Karin.." Katsuya groaned, scratching the back of his head.

"What do you mean, it's me!?" The redhead mused, sticking her finger out towards him accusingly. While Sakura became acquainted with the fact that the two of them seemed to know eachother, Karin's eyes then traveled and landed on the pink-haired girl once more, who flinched at her gaze in the slightest. She only kept her eye on her for a few seconds though, before sighing and resting her hands on her hips.

"I totally forgot that this was your class… yet you're out here entertaining people in line." The silver-haired boy mocked lazily. Sakura continued to watch as the two of them exchanged passive aggressive verbal throws at eachother for the next few seconds.

"Baba-san is renown here in Tokyo." Karin continued to chastise the silver-haired boy before turning to address them both. "She's scarily accurate, which is why you see that our class is so popular."

"Really, now.." Katsuya continued to scratch at the back of his head, beginning to have some doubts of his own.

"Hm. Well, you two have fun." Karin crinkled her nose, sending Sakura one last look before disappearing into a different section of the line to repeat the same thing to another group.

Time seemed to pass by _extra_ slowly when Sakura and Katsuya had joined the end of the queue. After following the rows of bodies until all the way in the middle of the staircase, the two of them stood in the same position for probably 10 minutes before there was any real movement.

However, Sakura appreciated that the silver-haired boy tried his best in keeping her entertained with conversation while the two of them waited. After nearly 45 minutes later, they finally ended up in the doorway to claim their new spot in line.

From this position, Sakura could peek in and steal a glance at this oh-so-accurate psychic of theirs. Finding a field of vision between the two people standing in front of them, her gaze landed on a short, stubby old woman with dirty blonde hair tied up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She wore a tan, collared smock with tiny pockets on either side of the chest, and she looked like she had trouble hearing the visitors sitting in front of her trying to get their fortune told.

"You really think this lady here is a psychic?" Sakura turns to the silver-haired boy in a doubtful voice.

"Who knows, man."

Sakura continued to eye the old woman in the class, who then suddenly stood from her seat to wave down a student on the side, whispering something into her ear. The student nodded in return and led the woman towards the door with the old grandma following behind in a slow stride.

"Washroom… washroom…"

The couple standing in front of them shifted themselves to the side to allow the old lady through- Katsuya and Sakura following the gesture short after. Up close, the lady smelled like a mix of sandalwood and mint.

The footsteps of the woman came to a sudden halt as she took a single step past the two. Slowly turning herself around, her slitted eyes met viridian orbs with growing suspicion. Sakura watched as she began to lift a single, shaking finger in the air in front of her, failing to point at anything in particular. Slowly, but surely, her finger then began to levitate to the right, where it landed on the bewildered kunoichi.

"You.. don't belong here."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the old lady's ominous voice. For a second, she felt her heart beginning to race a little faster, as if she had been caught in a lie.

At the unwarranted comment, Katsuya shifted a narrow gaze towards the older lady, then back towards the pink-haired girl.

This woman…

"Well, that's not a very nice thing for you to say, baa-san." Katsuya closed his eyes concludingly.

Ignoring his words, the lady then took a few steps forward until her distinct scent flourished under Sakura's nose. The pink-haired girl pursed her lips, watching the old woman release a tiny huff under her breath.

"We have a storm coming."

"What?" Sakura crinkled her eyebrows together.

Before she had the chance to react further, the woman retreated into the crowds of students until she was no longer in sight. Sakura continued to stare into the crowd, pondering the strange air that accompanied her words.

Katsuya continued to observe the aftereffects of the situation, watching the kunoichi closely. After a few seconds, he let out a long sigh.

"Old ladies are are whack, aren't they? I'm beginning to doubt this myself. How about we-"

A rickety sound suddenly erupted from above, sending his attention towards the doorway above them. The silver-haired boy's eyes widened, his fight or flight response activating as the heavy wooden signage released itself from its placement above their heads.

"Hey- watch out!" Katsuya snaked an arm around the kunoichi's waist, who had then broken out of her trance. Sakura let out a gasp as the two of them stumbled forwards and landed themselves on the ground with a thud, a loud banging noise ensuing as the signage smacked against the hard floor.

A couple of students gathered around to ask if they were okay. The pink-haired girl slowly opened her eyes and sat up on her knees.

"Katsuya, are you oka-" She turns to the silver-haired boy who panted heavily on her other side, only to let out a surprised gasp at the blood running down his left shoulder, a small tear present in the sleeve of his black t-shirt. The untreated wooden plank must've braised him on the impact.

"Ah.. it's blood." He announced in an unnaturally apathetic tone as the stream of red continued to run down his shoulder.

"What do you mean, 'ah, it's blood!? You're seriously bleeding!" Sakura exclaimed, her inner medic whirring to life as she hovered a cautious hand over his wound.

"What, never seen a little blood before?" Katsuya continued to poke, however was unsuccessful in lifting the corners of her mouth.

"We're going to the nurses' office. You have to get treated or it might get infected."

* * *

Sakura gave two knocks on the entrance to the infirmary room- a third, louder one after the first two went unheard. Yet to receive a response, she tugged at the doorknob and opened the door herself, letting the two of them inside.

It was a small infirmary room- a simple desk and cupboard on the left of the room with two beds separated by curtains as you walk further in. Papers scrawled themselves over the tabletop, and the cool air from the outside made the curtains on either side of the far window flutter in unison. The only thing missing was a nurse.

"Well, she doesn't seem to be here right now. Let's leave." Katsuya shifted a foot back towards the doorway.

"Wait, it'll be quick. Just sit there for a little while." Sakura gestured him towards the first bed while she made herself busy at the nurse's desk. Without questioning, the silver-haired boy followed her instructions, taking a seat at the edge of the bed while keeping a lingering eye on the kunoichi as she rummaged through the cupboards.

When she finished, she slid on the rolling chair in front of the desk and maneuvered herself towards him with the balls of her feet until she sat right in front of him. He looked down at the items in her hand and spotted a package of gauze, alcohol, and a few swabs with antiseptic.

"Show it to me."

Katsuya lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Don't you think that's a little too fast for our story development?"

"Shut up. Just hurry." Sakura twitched an eye.

Suddenly entertained, the silver-haired boy then swung up the sleeve of his heart, revealing a well-toned shoulder underneath his clothes. He watched as Sakura first started to clean the blood off his arm, then began to disinfect the wound.

"You seem to be quite well-versed in this stuff." Katsuya commented, tranced with her work.

"Something like that. I guess you can say I have a little affinity for the medical field." She explained modestly.

"Hm. Guess I really should've knocked myself out then."

The kunoichi raised a brow, sending him a playful smile. "Careful, one day I'll just about have had enough of your flirting."

A soft chuckle escaped from the silver-haired boy's lips. The infirmary was quiet other than the sound of muffled laughter from the outside that can be heard from the opened window. Katsuya watched, in a daze, as Sakura tucked the last of the gauze underneath itself to close the treatment.

"There, all done."

The kunoichi patted his shoulder gently before starting herself back towards the desk to begin placing the materials away. Katsuya lingered his gaze on her back as she started to hum a light tune.

"Sakura."

He called her name in a new, low tone without any indication of his usual jest. Sakura paused her hum and placed the last of the remaining gauze into the drawer.

".. What exactly are you?"

The tips of her fingers paused abruptly at the drawer knob, stunned at his sudden question. A wave of suspicion and panic suddenly shivered through her, similar to when she'd heard the old lady's words, but this time running deeper. What was he asking from her?

Did he know that she's from a different dimension? Or was it just a fluke?

Displaying a grin with the corners of her mouth, she pushed the drawer tightly shut with a thud. Turning herself around, her smile radiated nothing but innocence. Part of being a ninja was to excel at deception.

"What do you mean?"

The two of them held their gazes with eachother for awhile; Sakura maintaining her smile while the silver-haired boy studied her expressionlessly.

Finally, he closed his eyes and stood himself onto his feet. "Nevermind, forget it. Let's switch it up a little."

The viridian-eyed girl loosened her face, but adopted a new, tense expression as Katsuya slowly made his way towards her. As he came closer, her feet automatically took her back a step until she felt the edge of the desk press against her bottom. She held her breath as he paused right in front of her, planting his hands on either side of the desk behind her to trap her within his vicinity.

"What do you think you're doing?" She slips in a cautious, quiet tone, trying not to falter at his closeness.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Katsuya rolled the name out of his tongue with a hint of angst. "You always say otherwise, but you like that guy a lot, don't you?"

Her on-guard demeanour instantly began to diminish at the mention of her companion. It had been awhile since someone announced his full name so antagonistically like that. She felt like she had immediately been jolted back into the reality of the burdens associated with that name. But where was he trying to go with this?

She released a quick breath before responding. "And?"

"He doesn't treat you very well."

"And who are you to judge something like that?" She whispers at the seriousness in his tone.

"Because," He announces, "I'm saying that I can do better."

Sakura took a moment to process the meaning of what he had just said. Her earlier doubts of their relationship suddenly came to mind, and she cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. She decided there was no point in beating around the bush any longer.

"And are you doing this because you really have feelings for me, or are you just out to spite Sasuke-kun?"

"Well, that wasn't really my intention. But now that you mention it, messing around with that guy might be a little fun, I think."

She scoffed at his response, though she tried to ignore the ache in her chest as she spoke her next few words. "I doubt you'll get the reaction you want from him."

"Mm. For some reason, I'm begging to differ. In that case.."

Sakura held her breath once more as Katsuya leaned in further, until she could feel his breath tickle against the side of her face.

"I've decided that I want you. So I'm coming to war."

Without giving her a moment of resolution, he planted his lips on her lower jaw, just shy of the corner near her parted lips. The pink-haired girl widened her eyes, and not more than a second later, she placed her hands on the middle of his chest and pushed him away from her vicinity.

Katsuya didn't react, but instead maintained an apathetic expression as her gaze lingered on him for a few more seconds before she started herself towards the door in a hurried manner, leaving it open as she disappeared from the room.

* * *

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into the red-orange sunset that began to envelop in the sky above. As he glanced over at the nearby trees surrounding the stone pathway, a couple of crows that had been perched on its branches suddenly spanned their wings and flew away from his sight.

He returned his gaze back to eye-level, where he observed the east field of stalls. The Uchiha brothers wandered to a different area of the festival, where peers and families gathered to play games at the various rows of booths.

The school festival was coming to an end, Sasuke thought. He had spent most of his day working at the Ninja Cafe, and the latter accompanying his doppelgänger brother around a school he himself couldn't yet navigate expertly. Even though he had complained earlier about it to Shikamaru, he suddenly didn't really mind this task after all.

It gave him the chance to act as a younger brother again, in a world without conflict and massacre. He appreciated this internally, in a corner of his heart.

He then remembered that part of his job was to try and gather some information about their way home. Instead, his original goal seemed to have gotten a little sidetracked.

"This sure brings back a lot of memories.." Itachi commented, breaking their walk of silence as he scanned the crowds of game stalls. "I heard they'll still be hosting a bonfire this year, am I wrong?"

"I don't really know much about that." Sasuke replied, pausing for a moment before raising a brow at his brother. "Don't tell me you're planning to go to something like that?"

"I'm not. I have someone picking me up after this. It'd be improper to keep them waiting."

Peering to the side, the younger Uchiha watched as a group of three students each stood themselves to a faraway basket while they attempted to throw balls within them. It seemed similar to what he and Sakura had played in the gymnasium when they first arrived.

His eyes traveled to the stall beside it, and then he suddenly widened them in surprise.

"There's still about an hour left before the festival closes. Are you up for a challenge?"

The younger Uchiha looked towards his older brother, who gestured at a stall on the other side that ran a puzzle game.

"Hn." Sasuke parted his lips, then simply smirked.

"No problem. The only condition is.." He lifted a single, pointed finger.

"It has to be this one."

Itachi's gaze followed the younger Uchiha's finger until it landed on the stall beside the basketball game. "A shuriken throwing game.." At this, Itachi grinned softly.

Moments later, the two brothers stood side by side, about a metre apart as they lined with their respective wooden boards in front of them. On either side of them were a set of metal shurikens, and upon grasping one of them in his hand, Sasuke could immediately tell that they were not meant to spill the blood of an enemy.

Despite so, he threw them with great accuracy and skill, as he had been born to do from the start. With just a flick of his wrist, he sent the makeshift shurikens darting towards the board in a hurry. The feeling of his shots hitting the centre of the board sent waves of adrenaline through his veins as it brought him years back in his memory. It wasn't quite the same as being enveloped in a still forest, but it managed to invoke similar sentiments.

As he swung his arm back to deliver his last shot, a sharp sling rang through his ears on his right, halting his final move. His eyes travelled to the board beside his to notice that all six of Itachi's shuriken had already hit the center of the board, neatly arranged in a unified cluster to create a flower-like shape.

Appalled, the younger Uchiha glared at his older brother, who simply gave him a grin before receiving another set of shuriken from the stall owner. Had he gotten rusty because he hadn't been practicing? No- it wasn't that, that kind of talent doesn't leave the Uchiha blood.

Itachi, too, seemed to have a natural talent for shuriken. It didn't matter that he was simply a civilian. Narrowing his eyes, the younger Uchiha tilted his gaze to the short, young student running the stall. "Another round."

Handing Sasuke another set of shuriken, the two brothers began to duel once more. Shot after shot, a good twenty minutes had passed since they first started playing- and the two of them had managed to evenly tie up with each other up to this point. Now, as they each held the last shuriken of their set in their hands, both Sasuke and Itachi knew that this final shot would decide the outcome of their challenge. The two brothers did not seem to waver in the slightest, but instead gave eachother a single glance from the corner of their eyes before getting ready to throw.

He'd secure his win as long as Sasuke managed to score a higher point than Itachi with this final throw. Giving a wide smirk filled with overflowing confidence, the younger Uchiha threw his arm back wide, ready to pierce the wood as if it were a lifetime enemy.

Watching his serious expression, the older Uchiha released a low chuckle.

"Your eagerness reminds me of Sasuke."

Faltering at his comment, the raven-haired boy failed to restrain the flinch in his hand while swinging his shuriken. Itachi grinned, studying his own board, in which his own throw had missed the center by a few centimetres.

"You beat me." He congratulated the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke let out the air that he had been holding in his lungs, while forgetting to take another breath in. He stared at his perfect bullseye despite his millisecond moment of imperfection, and with that, he had won this game. Rid of his earlier enthusiasm, he wasn't in a very celebratory mood.

 _Sasuke._ The raven-haired boy internally repeated his own name. He was sure the Itachi standing before him had said it loud and clear. However, if he recalled correctly, Itachi mentioned that he was alone here as well.

If that was the case..

Suddenly, Sasuke parted his lips, letting a pause float in the air for a brief moment.

"Who's that?"

He asked that, but wasn't sure what kind of an answer he was looking for. Shifting a glance to his older brother, he watched as Itachi maintained his silence.

The next second though, he displayed a solemn smile in response. Not a moment too soon, the tiny stall owner peered between the two of them.

"Hey you two, the festival is about to end so we'll be closing soon. You can probably squeeze in one more game until then."

Neither of the brothers gave her a single glance, though, but instead continued to study eachother awhile longer before Itachi responded to the owner, still maintaining his smile with Sasuke.

"Maybe next time."

* * *

"I was raised in Takayama- an old brewery town until I was seven years old. My family moved out to Tokyo for a little while after that before we finally decided to settle in Osaka."

By the time the two brothers had started out of the east field and down the stone walkway of the schools perimeter, the orangey sky from earlier had already been threatening to disappear, almost completely engulfed by the night clouds. People around them had begun to take down their stalls to set up for the bonfire.

The younger Uchiha stared intently at the ground in front of him, not looking at anything in particular. Part of him wasn't really registering what his brother had been saying, but the other half was listening intently to every word. Judging from the facts, he assumed his family in this world lived a rather nomadic lifestyle.

"So you moved around a lot."

"We did. But it wasn't much of a bother to us. Growing up, we've always been close to eachother. My mother is a caring person and my father is a little bit more strict so we'd have some disagreements one in awhile, but he means well."

"Although.." Itachi's voice began to fade. "Everybody's been a bit distant with each other nowadays, because we're all doing our own thing."

Sasuke continued to walk in silence, listening to his brother's words.

"If I were to be honest, it surprised me when I first saw you because you look so much like my little brother. I think if he grew up, he'd look just like you."

Sasuke's body froze completely after the mention of what he had been curious about all along. This was it. But Itachi had been talking in past tense for awhile now.

A beat ensued before he began to prod in a reserved, cautious tone. "What happened?"

The younger Uchiha studied his older brother carefully, noticing a slight haze in his eyes as if he were recounting the memories of his past. Finally, he closed his lids and spoke in a regretful tone.

"We lost him when he was only five years old." He said, "I blamed myself for years after that, thinking that I didn't do a good job in protecting him well enough."

At this, Sasuke parted his lips slowly, and was suddenly at a great loss for words. In that moment, his thoughts managed to piece loose ends together, and he remembered what Sakura had mentioned earlier regarding the fact that two people couldn't exist in the same place at once.

It suddenly made sense why it was possible for two of them to be here, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. Something inside of him told him not to prod about the circumstances surrounding his alternate self.

"Ever since then, I closed myself off from the world for a long time. I couldn't see a single thing anything had to offer. Everything that we did today, I would've never done if it were the me back then."

Itachi turned to face the younger Uchiha as the two of them then came to a stop on the empty walkway. "Seeing you probably stirred some things inside of me, so I thought I'd act like a proper older brother for once instead of always blowing him off as I did in the past. Did I cross the line?"

Sasuke widened his eyes as he managed to detect the flicker of sadness in his face, masked underneath his composed tone. When Itachi was still alive, he had only ever shown him expressions of care, apathy, hatred, and love. He had never seen Uchiha Itachi make eyes that depicted a weightful sorrow heavier than his own.. at least not in front of his little brother.

It was probably all part of the illusion that he wanted Sasuke to maintain of him. That someone like Uchiha Itachi, who had joined the Akatsuki after the massacre of his clan, was incapable of experiencing grief.

Instead of responding to his question, Sasuke replied with a hooded gaze. "But now, you've moved on from it all. "

Itachi's smile slowly dissipates into a somber grin. "Of course not. I still miss him everyday, and I'd do anything to have him back."

"Then how," Sasuke's voice began to raise on its own, displaying his growing frustration, "How can you go about so carefree like this, taking pictures and playing games at your old school- something you've already closed off so long ago?"

Itachi noted the heated gaze of the raven-haired boy. "It might take some time, but humans are powerful at healing."

"And you're okay with accepting something so arbitrary?" Sasuke responded as he gritted his teeth, "The greater the pain, the more difficult it is to recover from something so large in proportion. If you're talking about simply believing in something as abstract as that, then someone like me, who has lost all of his family in a single night, who has experienced loneliness for almost my entire life…"

The raven-haired boy let a single beat pass, releasing a quick breath as he stared down at the earth below.

"-no longer has the ability to heal."

"Sousuke."

The seriousness in Itachi's voice broke through the younger Uchiha's lamentation. Suddenly, the older Uchiha's eyes filled with resolve. "I don't know what sorts of things you've been through, or about the people you have lost," He continued, "But we don't ever truly lose people who are dear to us. You might think that you have, but all of your family's feelings, their love, the traits that make them the way that they are.."

Sasuke slowly lifted his head, his gaze travelling up to meet his brother's dark orbs. Just when their eyes locked together, a single finger of his brother's hand pointed towards the side of the younger Uchiha's chest.

"All of that resides in you."

Sasuke pursed his lips together, and in that moment, he swore he saw the brief silhouettes of his mother and father standing on either side of his older brother, who continued to look at him with the same benevolent smile he always had.

He wonders how simplistic all of this may be- to be able to just remember something like that and then suddenly have the weight of the world's burdens lifted from his shoulders. Was it really enough to think that way?

Itachi glanced at their surroundings, making note of the darkness that had befallen the sky. Small torches of light began to brighten the path underneath their feet. "It looks like I should be heading out."

 _-It's unacceptable. There has to be something else._

"Just tell me one more thing." Sasuke clenched his fists to his sides, earning his brother's attention once more. He tried to hide the wavering of his voice, unsure if he was successful. "What makes you heal so easily?"

Realizing the sincerity in his question, Itachi responded with a low chuckle. As he moved his lips to speak, a woman's voice suddenly bellowed from behind.

"Itachi-kun…!"

Sasuke broke out of his rigid trance as a girl with long, chocolate-brown hair parted to the side of her face had appeared behind them. As she made her way towards the two of them, stopping closely at Itachi's side, the younger Uchiha felt as if he had known her from somewhere.

"Are you ready to go? You weren't picking up your phone, so I came out here to look for you myself."

Sasuke tuned out the details of their conversation, which mostly consisted of Itachi apologizing politely to the woman before them. He observed as the older Uchiha smiled a closed eye smile- one that seemed to brighten all their surroundings instantaneously, and it wasn't just due to the pavement light. Suddenly, his features were glowing, and Sasuke widened his eyes in shock, his lips parting unconsciously.

Itachi directed his attention back towards him for a moment.

"Sousuke. This is my fiancé.."

The tiny mole underneath the woman's right eye shifted slightly as her eyes crinkled into a friendly smile. Even though he had just introduced her to him, Sasuke had failed to register her name because his surroundings had suddenly become mute in his ears as a new realization dawned upon him. The Itachi here appeared a little bit younger, more healthier. The bags under his eyes weren't as prominent, and his appearance was well-kept and clean. But of course.

He didn't have to dirty his hands for anybody. He wasn't Konoha's 'unsung hero'. Here, he was not Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf.

"The two of us will be moving to Hakone next week to start a new life together." The older Uchiha announced, "So, this will be the first and last time we'll see eachother."

The epiphany seemed to wash over him like cold water. And suddenly, he understood what Itachi had been trying to do all along. That he had been trying to revisit the relic of his past and relive those painful memories with happy ones- to place it all behind before moving forward to start a new life. This world that he used to reject so deeply, he tried to see it again with a new lens.

Meeting him here may have been the work of pure coincidence, but their lives were not intersected in the same manner as the ninja world. There was a different kind of ending to this story.

At this, Itachi fixed him a knowing look. "I see that you realize it now, Sousuke." He says, "I'm sure there will be a day where you will come up with a similar answer, too."

A silent, breezy wind enveloped the air as Itachi and the woman waved goodbye to the younger Uchiha, who stood and watched as the two of them walked down the same path towards the exit of school.

He knew that the Itachi here had seen him in a way that was similar to himself. That's why he was so unnecessarily caught up in Sasuke's private matters. He wanted to make sure that whatever darkness he had in his heart, he wasn't going to go through it alone.

And if he could help to relieve that worry, just in the slightest..

"Itachi," Without thinking, Sasuke called out to his older brother, stopping him briefly in his tracks.

"My family is no longer with me.. but," The raven-haired boy swallowed deeply, "I've had strong bonds with several people."

With his body half turned towards Sasuke, the older Uchiha wallowed in the amount of emotion present in the raven-haired boys eyes, then gave him a final grin in return.

"I see. Then it seems your family never really left you after all."

After letting a moment pass, Sasuke blinked away the burning feeling in his eyes and turned his body as Itachi resumed his pace with the woman. Likewise, Sasuke began to start in a random direction of the field, unsure of where he was headed, but knowing he could no longer look back.

* * *

Her feet had taken her outside of the school and into the cold, night air of the outside where a burning flicker of light shone at the center of the south field. Where people had already begun to gather around the flames of the bonfire, Sakura felt her thoughts running a mile a minute as she attempted to settle herself down from what had just happened.

Despite so, she couldn't shake off the pounding feeling in her chest every time the silver-haired boy appeared inside of her mind. That was a confession, right? She had become used to receiving those ever since she began working under Tsunade, but this was the first time someone had managed to get so close to her out of the blue.

Finding herself a log resting on the far end of the fire near the entrance to a forest area, she took a halting seat as she let out a long, stressed breath.

Never mind the confession, though, what seemed to bothered her just as bad was the way he was speaking prior to that.

 _"Sakura. What exactly are you?"_

She had been careful not to blow their covers. But that Katsuya really was a hard person to read. What exactly did he know?

"Sakura."

The pink-haired girl let out a quick gasp as a presence suddenly appeared from behind her. As she jumped far out of her seat and turned around to face the voice, the panicked feeling inside of her chest suddenly eased as a familiar raven-haired boy revealed himself from the darkness, stepping out in front of the log and into her line of sight.

"Sasuke-kun…" She greeted him in a low whisper, releasing the hand that had instinctively placed itself on her chest.

It had been awhile since the two of them saw eachother all day. She watched as he lethargically took the spot where she had been sitting earlier; resting his elbows on either of his knees and staring into the ground. Not a moment too soon, an image of Katsuya- who had unofficially declared a war against this person, came to mind.

Wary of her sudden discomfort, the Uchiha lifted his head slightly and flickered his gaze up towards her. "Is something wrong?"

"N-Nothing" She faltered, holding two hands out in front of her in denial.

Sakura could detect the fatigue in his tone, and even though she was still shaken by Katsuya's antics, she instantly felt comforted in Sasuke's presence. Remembering the events that had transpired at the end of their shift, she realized that he had probably just finished with Itachi. The matter with Katsuya suddenly felt trivial compared to what he must've experienced today. Despite so, it conflicted her internally whether it was her place to ask about it. It felt like a territory she shouldn't be openly treading on. As much as she wanted to, she was never good at being the best solace for him in moments like these, and she figured he probably thought the same.

 _I don't think I've ever seen him like this before._ Sakura deduced from the downwards shift in his eyes that returned to the earth. Her heart sank at the dim loneliness in his expression- a sight he never really openly showed anyone. Was this the kind of face he'd been wearing in Team 7's absence all along, as he took on all the burden by himself?

She decided not to ask about it unless he decided to tell her. If that were to ever happen.

"Well," Sakura announced in a new, bright tone while turning herself in the direction of the bonfire, which now had more students surrounding its bright light. "Today wasn't a very bad day at all. I managed to eat some apple c-"

Her speech was cut off as a sudden, light weight dug into the small of her back, and she felt her entire body tense in response.

"I met with my brother."

His words debriefed the fact that she had been curious about, though he spoke as if he were trying to confirm if it actually happened instead of telling her for the first time. Sakura tried her very best to maintain stillness, as if any movement could shatter this moment as he continued to rest the tip of his forehead into her back. And for the very first time, she felt like she shared the weight of his sorrows.

On his own, Sasuke was a very skilled Shinobi that was capable of doing whatever his mind set out to do, but next to his older brother, he really did appear like a vulnerable child. With this in mind, something inside of her warned her not to turn around to face him.

"I know." She said in a low, calm tone, unsure of really what to say. "How was he? Was he any different?"

"No," He gave a slow, croaky reply, "His personality is exactly the way I remembered him."

The world that Sasuke saw through his eyes- what color was it dyed after his brother's departure?

".. I could never understand his way of thinking."

The sound of distant chatters and laughter rang in the air as the two of them paused in silence for a brief moment. Sakura swallowed once and furrowed her brows with a heavy heart.

"I'm sorry." She whispered her only words.

A soft sigh escaped his lips, and they took a moment to feel the night air trickle against their skins.

Finally, Sasuke swallowed. "You were right. We used to exist here. Itachi said I looked like his little brother, who had passed on when he was five years old."

"What?" Sakura furrowed her brows at this new information, "So.. the both of us.."

"Aa."

"Oh…" Her voice trailed off.

"There wasn't anything else he knew that could tell us how to get home."

"That's alright." Sakura flinched, realizing how painful this must've been for him.

"Is there a chance that you'll be able to see him again?"

The image of Itachi and the woman beside him appeared inside of his mind, their smiling faces resonating with nothing but happiness.

Sakura blinked as the raven-haired boy suddenly lifted his head from her back, and before she knew it, he stood beside her so that they were now both watching the students mingle at the bonfire from far ahead.

"This isn't like the life we had together back at the Uchiha compound in Konoha." Watching him speak from the corner of her eye, his expression no longer hinted at vulnerability, but instead returned to the serious face he always wore.

"I have no right to infringe in any way on that future of his. I bear the weight of my own past, and I will find answers to it with my own resolve."

At this, Sakura released a sigh, silently grinning to herself. "I see."

The tone within his voice told her that little by little, he was starting to once again battle the darkness within him in order to see things in a different light. And whether that resolve would be in the favour of his comrades, Sakura herself did not know, but it was a step forward.

Averting her attention back towards the crowd gathered near the flames, she spotted her classmates and watched as Hinata and Naruto shared their own log bench on the side, laughing together about something she couldn't hear. Catching this sight, the pink-haired girl let out a tiny giggle. It had been a long process, but with this, it looks like the school festival had come to a close.

"Sakura."

Viridian eyes met with dark orbs, and to her surprise, he gave her a face that she hadn't seen in years.

"You did well."

Despite the cold breeze that made the ends of her hair dance around her skin, her heart felt warm as she reciprocated his smile.

"Thanks."


End file.
